Vice
by sleepy1177
Summary: Tris is running from a past that will never let her go, torn between putting together the pieces of her life or throwing it all away. AU, Modern Day, OOC, dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

The worst part about living in underground apartments was the lack of natural light. It was sometimes also the best part. She felt the room tilt a bit as she stumbled blindly in the dark, running her hands along the cold and slightly damp feeling stone walls. Almost all of the apartments in Dauntless had the same layout. For that, she was thankful, because it made it so much easier to empty the contents of that nights drinking excursion into the proper receptacle, when needed, or to make a quick getaway. She deftly picked up her discarded items of clothes along the way.

Rule number one, never fully undress. It was so much more difficult to make your escape when you're trying to find your fucking bra using only the flashlight app on your phone, more so when you were still too drunk to figure out how to use the app.

Rule number two, get drunk, but don't ever get pass out drunk. You don't want to wake up and make awkward small talk with whomever you ended up following home from the bar that night, however you also need to be drunk enough to not think about what you're doing.

She finally reaches her destination and closes the bathroom door before flipping the light switch on. Rules number three and four were to always close the door before turning the light on so not to wake tonight's victim, while also assessing your own damage once you can actually see yourself in the mirror.

"Fuck." She whispers at her own reflection. Her honey blonde hair is a mess, her eyeliner is smudged beneath her eyes and there definitely looks like a bit of a bruise is forming on her collarbone. She quietly opens the linen closet and rummages around for a wash cloth.

"Jesus, don't you bathe?" She grumbles when all she finds are ammo, guns and knives. She closes the closet quietly, and turns the faucet on. She dampens her hair to calm it, splashes some water on her face and uses hand soap to try to remove the smudged makeup.

"Can't wipe the stupid dark circles off." She murmurs with a chuckle. She throws her hair up in a quick bun, turns the light off and quietly makes her way out of the apartment.

Dauntless is a complex that never truly sleeps, but luckily the hard partying ways of many of the night owls makes the "walk of shame" a little more bearable as she makes  
her way through the maze like corridors. She stops in front of apartment 261 and reaches in her pocket.

"Shit." She murmurs. "No keys…" Her keys are likely at work and she quickly decides it's not worth the hassle to go get them. She grabs her phone instead and shoots off a quick text. She paces nervously in front of the apartment door, and continues to pepper texts that go unanswered. She leans her head against the cool door and sighs. She's caught off guard when the door suddenly opens.

"Jesus." He says quietly as she falls against him.

"Sorry, I forgot my keys." She shrugs as she tries to move past him. He blocks the doorway and pulls the door shut behind him. "Come on Peter, I need sleep." She whines.

"What you need to do is not come here drunk off your ass after doing god knows what with god knows who." He replies angrily.

"Not tonight, please." Tris replies.

"We can't do this anymore Tris." He says quietly.

"What do you mean? We don't _do_ anything." Tris replies sarcastically. "If this is about rent I can start paying…"

"You have your own apartment that you pay rent on, we've been over this." He replies.

"No…" Tris says angrily. "Don't…."

"Fine, we won't talk about it, but you can't stay here tonight Tris. I have company." Peter  
replies vaguely.

"I won't bother you, you know this! I'll go into my room and just sleep. I promise." Tris begs and he shakes his head.

"It's Christina…" he begins and he sees the fear in her eyes. "I told you I'd started seeing someone…"

"You never told me it was her!" Tris shouts and he grabs her and pulls her away from the  
door and into a small enclave off of the main hall.

"Tris, it's barely three AM, can you please keep your voice down?" He sighs. "I've been honest with you this whole time, I told you I'd started seeing someone and it was getting more serious."

Tris cuts him off. "You never told me it was her though. You know I can't be around her…  
you know this… why…?"

"I've been as patient as I could with you Tris. I've given you a place to stay for months now. I've covered for you, I've made excuses for your behavior, I've even dragged you out of countless unknown apartments and away from all of the messes you've gotten yourself into. I've put my life on hold for you but it's time for me to start living again. You should do the same." Peter replies.

"I can't…"

"You need help, Tris, professional help. This is beyond the scope of what I can do. We're  
friends, and we always will be, but you've got to get help. I've faced my demons Tris, you have to do the same…"

"Demons?" She scoffs. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Peter, where are you?" A sleepy sounding Christina asks from behind the mostly closed  
apartment door. Tris doesn't hesitate to turn on her heel and run away from Peter, despite her current condition and his protests.

Tris feels like she is on fire, her leg muscles protesting from the damning pace she is  
running, her stomach protesting from her diet of mostly alcohol and little actual substance. She manages to make her way to the elevator to take her to the surface. She just needs some fresh, cool air and to clear her mind and as soon as the doors open she bursts through, running without a destination in mind.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _You're slow." Four calls from in front of her as she struggles to keep pace._

 _"_ _You're also half a foot taller than me." She yells in response._

 _Christina snickers from beside her. "You seriously have a death wish talking to him like that."_

 _"_ _He's our personal trainer Chris, technically we employ him, so why would he kill me for mouthing off?" I ask in between huffs. "I should kill you for talking me into this."_

 _"_ _You wanted to get in shape." She replies with a grin._

 _"_ _I never said that I wanted to run." Tris sighs. "Running is stupid."_

 _"_ _Running is one of the best cardio workouts there is." Four shouts from in front of them._

 _"_ _Now you're just showing off." Tris complains as she watches Four keep pace while running backwards to face them._

 _End Flashback_

"No. No. No…." Tris whines as she halts. She grabs her head and shakes it side to side. People stare at her strange behavior as they pass her.

"Mental case." Someone calls out.

"Fuck off!" She shouts.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Fuck off!" Tris shouts at her trainer as he yells at her for the umpteenth time today._

 _"_ _Do you kiss your boyfriend with that mouth Prior?" Four asks with a shit-eating grin on his face._

 _"_ _If I actually had a boyfriend I'd kiss him with my filthy mouth and he'd accept it happily." She huffs from her spot on the floor._

 _"_ _I guess it should be expected that you don't have a boyfriend since you're such a pain in the ass." He retorts._

 _"_ _You assume I want a boyfriend." She replies as she sits up and wipes the sweat from her brow. She grabs her water bottle and takes a long swig._

 _"_ _Or a girlfriend… I mean Christina is pretty cute. Mouthier than you if possible, but the two of you would make a cute couple…" He grins back at her as she throws her towel at him._

 _"_ _Typical meathead, sees two attractive girls who are obviously close friends, fantasizes about them." She rolls her eyes._

 _"_ _One of them." He corrects before swiping her water bottle and taking a swig._

 _"_ _Excuse me?" She stutters._

 _"_ _One of them." He repeats. "I wouldn't necessarily call it fantasizing either. Maybe more of an interest in getting to know her outside of a personal trainer/client relationship."_

 _"_ _Really?" Tris asks. She's been attracted to her trainer ever since meeting him, and she's continued with the torture of working out under the guise she wanted to get into better shape in an effort to get to know him better. Now they're once again alone after Christina cancelled their workout to go on yet another date with this new guy Will she met at the gym, and for the first time it seems as if Four is finally willing to admit there's more than a professional relationship between them._

 _"_ _Yeah, really." He replies and she can see the blush forming on his cheeks that also rises to the tips of his ears. There is nothing but silence between the two._

 _"_ _Um…" Tris begins but Four cuts her off._

 _"_ _So if you want to let Christina know I'd like to take her on a date it'd be awesome." He replies._

 _Tris can feel herself turning red, and for a few seconds her eyes burn as if there are tears forming. She shakes her head quickly and recovers._

 _"_ _Oh, um, sure, I can put in a word… I mean she's seeing this guy Will now… but it's new and it's not serious or anything I don't think…."_

 _Four starts laughing at her obvious discomfort before jumping up and reaching down to yank her up off the mat. "Tris, I was totally kidding!" He replies between laughter and she angrily pushes him away._

 _"_ _Of course you were." She replies as she stalks off._

 _"_ _Tris, wait, I was only kidding about who it is I'm interested in!" He calls from behind her and she stops walking away. She slowly turns to face him._

 _"_ _You're an asshole!" She shouts._

 _"_ _Yeah, I am. So, about that date?" He grins back at her as he closes the space between them._

 _End Flashback_

"No!" Tris shouts as she takes off running again. She makes her way through the dark  
streets, running towards the bright neon lights flashing in front of her. She walks into the seedy looking establishment, ignoring everything around her until she finds the bar towards the back. She numbly sits down and she begins tapping her fingers on the tacky surface.

"Hey there, the name's Tori and I'll be taking care of you tonight. What'll it be doll?" Tris  
glances up at the bartender and finds the kind brown eyes of a beautiful Asian woman with long dark brown dreadlocks and tattoos running over almost every inch of her exposed arms. Tris can't help but stare at the intricate design and detail of the artwork.

"Your tattoos are beautiful." Tris says quietly once she realizes she's been staring for too long.

"Thank you." The bartender replies. "What are you drinking?"

"Whiskey, neat." Tris replies and Tori grins at her before grabbing the bottle from a middle shelf. She watches as the bartender expertly pours the perfect amount of amber liquid in the glass. She slides it in front of Tris and her eyes travel over the interwoven patterns and symbols on Tori's inner arms until her breath hitches in her throat.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _Your tattoo… what is it?" She asks timidly._

 _She's seen parts of the tattoo creeping above Four's shirt collar but never been brave enough to ask the immensely private man what it was. In all of the time they've known each other, both professionally during their personal training sessions and more recent in the several months they've been dating she's noticed he's never taken his shirt off. It's always struck her as odd considering how overheated they get in their training sessions. Christina actually didn't believe Tris when she confided in her that she and Four had yet to be intimate after dating exclusively for almost five months._

 _"_ _Do you want to see it?" He asks._

 _Tris nods her head and in a swift movement he pulls the black t-shirt over his head and turns his back towards her. The tattoo covers his entire back, with five different symbols in a vertical column up his spine along with what appears to be flames moving all across his back and up to his neck._

 _"_ _It's beautiful…." Tris whispers in awe. She gently traces her fingertip up his spine and across the symbols. "What do these symbols stand for?"_

 _"_ _They're just symbols." He replies stoically before slipping his shirt back on. "Want to order Chinese?"_

 _End Flashback_

"Those symbols…. I've seen them before." Tris says.

The bartender narrows her almond shaped eyes and quickly walks around to the front side of the bar. She grabs Tris by the arm and pulls her to a storage room.

"Who sent you?" The bartender asks.

"What are you talking about?" Tris replies.

"You recognize these?" She replies. Tris doesn't answer, which seems to make Tori angry. "Who are you? What do you know about these?" Tori hisses.

Tris can feel the room closing in on her and she tries in vain to open the door before blackness envelops her.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you all for the reviews, feedback and follows. I'm still shaking off the rust so please be patient with me. i sincerely appreciate all of you.**

Tris' eyes flutter open and she's surprised by her familiar surroundings. The bile is burning at the back of her throat and with a rush she untangles herself from the blankets and runs into the hallway bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach.

"Finally awake?" Peter asks as he leans against the bathroom doorway.

"Mmmhmm" Tris moans as she maneuvers to keep her hair from the toilet. She leans back a bit and begins to pull her hair into a bun.

"Christina...?" she asks nervously.

"Not here." Peter replies. "Care to explain how it is that I'm still listed as your emergency contact in your cell phone?"

"I'm sorry." Tris croaks. "I don't even remember what happened last night."

"Last night?" Peter exclaims. "You've been passed out for two fucking days Tris!"

"What? No! My job..." She scrambles to get to her feet.

"You should check your damn phone. You lost your job again. Your boss had been calling nonstop and when I finally answered she told me to come pick up your stuff." Peter replies. "Tris, when I went by your apartment to try to get some of your things there was another lock on the door, and this." He hands her what clearly is a legal eviction notice.

"Oh fuck." Tris whispers, defeated. Peter finally pushes away from the door frame and moves so he is in front of her.

"What were you doing in Candor, Tris?" He asks.

"What are you talking about?" Her face twists in confusion.

"Come on, let's get out of the bathroom." Peter sighs.

"Give me a second to clean up, please?" Tris asks and Peter nods before exiting the bathroom. Tris grabs her toiletry bag from Peter's closet and quickly brushes her teeth, combs through her messy hair before twisting it into a bun again and washes her face. The pale woman with the freckled cheeks who is staring back at her looks like a stranger. She sighs before dropping her bag back into the closet and heading out to his living room with her head spinning. Candor? No job?

"What day is it?" she asks timidly.

Peter just stares at her for several uncomfortable seconds before taking a deep breath in. "Wednesday. You were last here late Sunday night, well early Monday morning when Christina was here. Right as I walked Chris back to her place I started getting calls from your number, then suddenly it was this weird number when I didn't answer your calls. At first I ignored them and let them go to voicemail, but once I checked my messages I realized that you were in some pretty serious trouble. You passed out again, this time in some seedy bar in Candor of all places. How the fuck did you even end up over there?"

"I ran. When I left here I just ran. I don't know, I just kept thinking about shit..." Tris trails off suddenly.

"Is this about Christina?" He asks.

"Peter, please. I can't."

"No, this isn't a matter of what you can or can't do, it's all about what you won't do!" He says firmly. "How do you think I feel being caught in the middle of this shit? Are you too fucking selfish to realize that this "friendship" could end up costing me my relationship?"

"I didn't think she knew about us being friends." She whispers in response and Peter shakes his head angrily.

"That doesn't even matter. What does matter is what happened Monday. What did you do to get kicked out of that place?" He asks.

"The bar?"

"Yes! The woman who called me and told me you were no longer welcome." He replies angrily.

"I didn't do anything. I ran there, I ordered a drink, and the bartender dragged me into a storage room and asked me who sent me." Tris replies.

"That makes no damn sense. What are you not telling me?"

 _Flashback_

 _Tobias stirs next to her, turning onto his stomach before softly snoring again. Tris looks over at him and marvels at the way the moonlight highlights his bronzed skin. His back is exposed, the light sheet barely covering him at all. She takes the time to study his mysterious tattoo while he's relaxed and sleeping._

 _The flames seem to be covering something, she's noticed faint scarring that crisscrosses his back, neither of them have brought them up but she's felt them in their more intimate moments._

 _She's noticed he seems more uncomfortable discussing the symbols that run down his spine. Each symbol is inside of a circle, the top one being a pair of hands, followed by a beautiful tree, then the scales of justice, another that looks like an eye and finally a different type of flame pattern._

 _Tris grabs her phone to try and sneak a pic of the tattoo but the flash wakes him up._

 _"Did you really just take a pic of me?" He asks sleepily._

 _"You just looked too cute." She replies. "I'm sorry for waking you."_

 _"S'ok." He murmurs before flopping his arm over her and going right_ _back_ _to_ _sleep_.

 _End_ _Flashback_

"I need to go." Tris says.

"Tris, please talk to me." Peter replies softly.

"I'm fine. You're right, our friendship greatly jeopardizes your relationship with Christina. I appreciate you and everything you've done."

"Tris... you can't go back to your apartment anymore… and you can't stay here…" Peter begins but is cut off by his cell phone ringing. Tris looks down and sees Christina's face on the display. She smiles briefly before walking out of the room to gather her things. She has her bag slung over her shoulder and quietly lets herself out of the apartment, careful not to disturb Peter's conversation. Once she's made it back to the street level she retraces her running route in an attempt to find the Candor bar she was in earlier this week.

"Think Tris." She mutters. She does a quick search on her cell phone for bars in Candor and calls each of them asking to speak to Tori. After five unsuccessful calls, the sixth is the charm when she reaches out to a bar named Bud's Place.

"She's not here." The gruff voice responds when she asks for Tori.

"Does she work tonight?" She asks but the line goes dead.

She quickly searches for directions to the bar and takes off jogging. Taking note of her surroundings makes her understand Peter's trepidation on her being in this part of town alone at night, however she keeps a decent pace and makes it to the bar without issue. The place seems pretty slow, and Tris makes her way to the same back bar she was at previously, taking a seat while keeping an eye out for any familiar faces.

"Hey there, can I get you anything? Menu with the specials is right here..." the dark haired man nods to his left towards a chalkboard, "and we have twenty-two beers on tap. Name's Bud, I'll be taking care of you."

"Bud, as in the namesake?" Tris asks.

"One in the same." He smiles.

"It's kind of nice to see the namesake out here working in the trenches too." Tris replies with a nervous smile of her own. She's terrible at small talk, especially when sober.

"Being short staffed will do it to you. Had to send someone out to a store run, how a bar runs out of lemons is beyond me." He rolls his eyes.

"Um, I need a job if you're hiring." Tris replies quickly. She hopes her appearance from sleeping off her last bender isn't too disheveled as the words keep tumbling out of her mouth. "I've got lots of restaurant experience, um both front of house and in the kitchen… "

"You ever bartended?" He asks.

"Yes, I actually have." Tris replies.

"Oh yeah, anywhere I'd have heard of?" Bud asks as he dries off some beer mugs.

"The Pit, Dauntless." Tris replies in as even a voice as she can muster. Between nerves and her desperate need for a drink she can feel slight tremors in her body.

Bud quickly meets her eyes and stops what he's doing. "We've got another bartender from there." He says quietly.

"Here are your damn lemons. Maybe you'll think twice before letting Tori make the weekly orders next time?" Tris jumps at the unknown voice from next to her. He's dressed in dark jeans, a leather jacket and has a motorcycle helmet on.

"Thanks asshole. Hey, we have someone else here from the Pit who was looking for a bartending job." Bud offers and Tris watches the stiff body language as the man removes his jacket. She sees the myriad of maze tattoos on his arms and feels a chill run down her spine.

"Holy shit…." He murmurs once he has his helmet off.

"I didn't have a chance to get her name yet though." Bud says, unaware of the nervous energy between the two people in front of him.

"Tris Prior." The bartender says, cutting Bud off.

"Ok, good, you two do know each other then. I think she'd be a good fit. Eric, can you show her the ropes?" Bud says as he reaches across the bar to shake Tris' hand. "Miss Prior, I'd like to welcome you aboard. What happened over there at The Pit touched everyone in the community, and I for one want you to know you have a home here at Bud's."

Tris shakes the proffered hand. "Thank you." She says. It's everything she has to hold it together, and thankfully Bud either takes no notice to her behavior, or chalks it up to where she came from. He nods his head to Eric before heading away from the bar.

"How are you here?" Eric asks in a hushed voice.

"I could ask you the same thing." Tris replies. They don't have any more time to talk before a customer sits up at the bar. Eric and Tris work side by side, a familiarity between them that is unspoken as they easily help the few customers on a slow mid-week day shift.

"I need a drink." Tris says once things have quieted down. Eric nods, pulling two glasses out and pouring each of them a shot of whiskey. They both down two shots each before Eric puts the bottle back on the shelf.

"I'm here for the newbie." A familiar voice calls out and Tris turns to see the almond shaped brown eyes of Tori. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Tori asks.

"She's the newbie." Eric replies and Tori darts her eyes over at him.

"Not happening. I just kicked her out earlier this week for passing out at the bar. Bud really needs to hire with the head on his shoulders…" Tori grumbles and Eric puts a hand up to stop her.

"She's from The Pit." He says.

Tori's eyes turn hard as she faces the two. "How is that even possible? You of all people said…."

"It doesn't matter what I said. You can see with your own two eyes that she's here and she needs work. Are you going to take care of what Bud asked you to, or do I need to do that myself?" Eric growls.

"Fine. Follow me." Tori says to Tris and takes off down a hallway. She follows her into a cramped office and stands awkwardly as Tori shuts the door behind them. "Move the stuff and sit." She says as she cocks her head towards a chair with an overflowing box of paperwork sitting on it. Tris does as she's told and gingerly sits on the chair across the desk from an obviously agitated Tori.

"So…"

"You know damn well you shouldn't have come back here. Since you appear to actually be coherent this time, I'm going to give you one more chance to tell me who fucking sent you." Tori spits.

"I know you don't believe me, but I swear to you no one sent me." Tris replies.

"Then how do you know what these are?" Tori almost screeches as she yanks her shirt sleeves up to revel the faded symbols she has intertwined with her intricate arm sleeve tattoos.

"I don't know what they are. That's why I am hoping you can help me." Tris reaches for her phone and Tori quickly pulls a knife from her boot and shows it to Tris. "Oh my god, I'm not armed. Please…" Tris pleas. "Here, just grab my phone out of my bag, there is a picture there I want to show you."

Tori eyes her warily but quickly grabs the blonde's oversized shoulder bag and examines its contents thoroughly before grabbing the cell phone from the bag. She hands it over to Tris, who quickly unlocks it and scrolls to the picture she took of Tobias' tattoo the one morning while he was still sleeping. She shoves the phone across the cluttered desk towards Tori.

Tori looks at the phone and draws in a deep breath. "How do you have this?"

"I took it. He wouldn't tell me what it was, but I knew it had to be more to it based on how secretive he always was about it." Tris replies.

"Who is he to you?" Tori shoots back quickly.

"Do you recognize him from the tattoo?" Tris retorts.

Tori leans back in the chair and massages her temples with her fingertips. She definitely recognizes the tattoo and the person it belongs to, she is the one who gave it to him. What she doesn't understand is how the young woman in front of her came to be involved with the young man in the photo.

"No one has heard from him in months. How do you have this?" Tori replies.

"You know him. Please tell me what you know. Please." Tris replies as the tears she tries so hard to fight begin falling down her cheeks.

"First you tell me who he is to you, how you took this picture and where he is!" Tori almost shouts.

"He was my boyfriend, I took the pic while he was sleeping." Tris replies in a shaky voice.

"Where is he now?" Tori asks in a quieter tone.

"Dead."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hi again, and thanks for the reviews and follows. I appreciate you all. I know there are a lot of questions to be answered, and this chapter will start to unravel some of that mystery I think. Enjoy :)**

Tris wasn't able to get all of her questions answered before a rush of college students came in, taking advantage of both the close proximity to Erudite University along with the newly lowered drinking age of eighteen years old. Rush weeks turned into months, and a very profitable business for all bars, including Bud's. All hands were needed at the bar and kitchen, and soon the lull of what seemed to be a slow weekday afternoon shift turned into last call at the end of a long night.

The string of unanswered texts from Tris to Peter gave her anxiety, because for the first time in a while Tris wasn't a drunken mess looking to score at the end of one of her all day benders. While she had an almost pleasant buzz from the string of well-meaning college students buying the "hottie new bartender" a shot, she also didn't want to screw up her chances of learning more from Tori by falling further onto her bad side.

"Please pick up…" Tris whispers into her phone and she once again dials Peter's number. This time it goes straight to voicemail. She lets out a frustrated sigh when she ends her call without leaving a message. Tris realizes that this time he seems serious about cutting her off. She paces back and forth, kicking an empty beer bottle towards the outdoor trash bin as she shivers a bit from the chilly weather.

"Why are you here?" She's startled by Eric's gruff voice. She looks around the empty back parking lot and shrugs.

"I needed some air." She replies.

"No, I mean here in this part of the city. Honestly I want to know how you're even here in front of me. I thought you died that night…."

Tris cuts him off. "I don't want to talk about it."

He stares at her for what seems like several minutes before pulling out what appears to be a hand rolled cigarette out of his jacket pocket and lighting it up. One quick whiff and Tris realizes he's smoking marijuana.

"You sharing?" She asks and he arches a pierced eyebrow at her before passing the joint to her outstretched hand. Tris takes a long drag, feeling the smooth smoke as she inhales, pausing before exhaling and passing the joint back to Eric.

"Didn't know you were a smoker." He ponders out loud as he takes a hit himself.

"Neither did I." She remarks.

Tori walks outside and peers at the two. Tris looks like the kid with her hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar and she can't help but chuckle at the nervous woman in front of her.

"I'm not the fucking police young'un." She says to Tris as she approaches her. "Pass that shit."

Tris does as she's told and watches as Tori takes a drag. The burning ember at the end of the joint illuminates Tori's angular features, and Tris watches as Tori appears to finally be relaxing for the first time since meeting her.

"Nightly tradition." Tori explains as she passes the joint back to Eric. "Nothing to worry about, we all smoke a little here and there. It's legal now, ya know?"

"I know. I just didn't know if it was frowned upon." Tris reasons.

"There's not really a rulebook here. Be an adult, own your shit, and don't do anything that would prevent a customer from coming back." Eric says.

"What he said." Tori adds on. "I'm out. See you both tomorrow. You did well tonight Tris."

Tris watches as Tori walks towards her car and quickly drives off. She and Eric continue to smoke in relative silence.

"I need to put this out, gotta be able to drive." He remarks as he scratches the joint out on his boot. "I can walk you to your car." He offers.

"I'm good." She replies. She watches as he scans the parking lot.

"Where's your ride then?" He asks.

Tris scrolls through the plethora of unanswered texts to Peter and sighs. "Not answering."

"Come on." Eric replies and he begins to walk towards a bike. Noticing that Tris isn't moving, he turns back towards her. "I'm not leaving you in a parking lot at three AM with no car and no one here to pick you up. I'll take you home."

"I'm fine." She argues.

"Tris, we're right on the border with Erudite. In case you haven't noticed, this is a rough area. Come on." He replies.

"You can go." She replies firmly but the man will not budge.

"Why are you so fucking stubborn? Fine. I'll stay here until your ride gets here, or you get attacked, whatever happens first." Eric replies angrily.

"I don't have anywhere to go." Tris finally says. Eric looks up at her sharply and she can see him weighing his response. "You don't need to wait for me, I'll figure something out. I mean I got great tips tonight so I'm sure I'll find something."

"Come on." He replies simply.

"Eric…"

"Tris, I don't have a permanent spot either. I've been staying over with the fucking hippies in the Amity borough. It's safe there. Just trust me." He replies as he scratches the back of his neck nervously.

Tris follows him in silence to his bike. He takes the single helmet and hands it to her, not giving her any chance to protest before sitting down and starting his bike. She straps the helmet on and scoots in behind him. The loud bike and surprisingly gentle movements from it are almost soothing, although her stomach is in knots. Before today, she hadn't seen Eric Coulter in over six months, and she knows he has just as many questions for her as she does for him. What she doesn't know is how on earth she will possibly be able to answer them.

They pull up in front of a large building and Eric kills his engine and turns to face her. "I try to keep it quiet since I am always here late. Just gotta walk the bike up to park."

Tris hops off the bike and removes her helmet, following in silence as Eric walks his motorcycle up to a parking spot. "What is this place?"

"Part commune, part shelter I suppose. Rent is cheap, the place is secure, people are overly nice." He shrugs. "We share common spaces, bathrooms, stuff like that. Think it was a school at one point, like a college or something. I do have my own room."

"You live alone?" Tris asks while following him through the building. He's been pointing out various areas as they go. He doesn't answer her, instead he gets quiet and stops at a numbered door. She waits while he unlocks it and then walks inside when he nods his head.

Eric flips on a light behind her and Tris is struck at how neat the place is, even though it's small. Eric has a double bed, which is actually made. A tall dresser sits next to his bed, and he has other sparse furnishings in the small room. A table with two chairs, a love seat, a coffee table with an open laptop along with a small entertainment center with a television and video game equipment are set up as well. She sees a closed door which she assumes may be a closet or other storage, and when Eric opens it to drop his coat, helmet and shoes inside her suspicions are confirmed. He gestures for her jacket and she shrugs it off, handing it to him and watches as he carefully hangs it inside. He heads over to his dorm sized fridge and pulls out two beers, uncapping them and offering her one. They both take a seat at the table and Tris braces herself for the conversation she's been avoiding.

"What are you willing to tell me?" Eric asks. Tris is surprised at his gentle tone and the unconventional way he is approaching what promises to be a difficult conversation.

"I didn't expect to see you." She blurts out in response.

"I'm the only survivor. Until you." He replies.

"Lauren…?" Tris asks in an almost whisper.

"Gone too." He replies with a sad nod.

"I'm so sorry." Tris replies. The two sit in silence for several minutes, drinking their beers and not looking at each other.

"Me too." He says while looking out the lone window of his small room.

"You two were together a long time." Tris replies softly.

"We had just broken up a few weeks before it happened. She wanted to get married and I didn't…." He trails off.

"I didn't know." Tris offers.

"Yeah. I didn't much talk about it, and Lauren just ignored me when we worked together. I want to believe she was at peace when she died, but to be honest I don't fucking know what was in her head." Eric reaches into his pocket and quickly lights the joint they were previously sharing. He passes it over to Tris. "I thought we could use something stronger than beer."

"Thanks." She replies.

"When I saw you earlier at Bud's it was like seeing a ghost. I really didn't believe I was looking at you. That entire building exploded, it took out every business on the block. How the fuck did I not see you make it out?" Eric asks.

"How did you survive?" She counters.

"How is it that you don't know?" He asks without masking the surprise in his voice. "I was in a car three blocks away fucking your best friend."

Tris chokes on the smoke she inhaled and coughs violently. She takes a few sips of her beer in an attempt to calm down.

"Sorry." Eric offers.

"Who was it?" She croaks out.

Eric's face twists in surprise but he continues. "The loud mouthed one from the Candor borough. I don't even remember her name. She was in there with you all the time, and we were hammered, and I wanted to get over Lauren so I followed her to her car and fucked her. I thought you had to know, you two were thick as thieves."

Tris' head is spinning from the alcohol, drugs and the information that Eric just dropped on her. "I wouldn't know because she hasn't fucking spoken to me in months. Not since she blamed me for the death of her boyfriend!"

"What the fuck?" Eric murmurs.

Tris gets up from the table and downs her beer before she begins pacing. Eric just watches her, unsure of how to proceed.

"Will, she'd been with him for over a year." Tris says out loud and then shakes her head. "She said he was the love of her life… he was there that night with my boyfriend….and she blames me!"

"You're not making much sense….." Eric begins but is cut off.

"Tobias never came to my work. Not once in the entire time we were together. He was super private and we barely went out in public at all." She seethes.

"Who is Tobias?" Eric asks.

"He was my boyfriend." Tris shakes her head. "For some reason, that night, he came up to the bar and he had Will with him. Christina's boyfriend Will. She thinks I called them to come up there but I didn't. I hadn't even made it to work yet, my car wouldn't fucking start and I'd been calling Tobias for over an hour trying to get him to pick me up…" Tris breaks into tears but continues. "He wouldn't answer his phone, as a matter of fact he kept sending me to voicemail. I wasn't at work because my car wouldn't start, and in the almost eight months of me dating Tobias he never once came to The Pit, I mean he flat out refused every time I asked, but for some reason on the night the place fucking blows up he's there with Will who he barely even fucking knew outside of the few dinners we had at the apartment I shared with Tobias in Dauntless! She blames me for his death, but she was fucking you?"

"It just happened that night. I was working at The Pit, but our ice machine had fucked up and Max sent me down to that other bar The Chasm to get some ice. They were in the process of throwing her drunk ass out when I got there, and I was pretty buzzed from work that night myself, and it fucking happened. I'd barely ever talked to her, she drives me nuts, but that night she dragged me back to her car and we just fucked. She never once mentioned anything about a boyfriend." Eric passes the joint to the obviously upset Tris and she gratefully accepts.

"I needed her. I lost everyone that night. I needed her and she completely turned her back on me. She blamed be for Will's death, she wouldn't even listen to me. I never knew where she was that night, and I'll never know why Tobias and Will were at the Pit that night because they're gone."

"The investigation is still open you know." Eric tells her and her jaw drops.

"I thought it was ruled an accident. The gas leak…" She replies.

"No. It was intentional. It wasn't just natural gas Tris. They found a fuck ton of gases in the place, plus a very intricate homemade bomb. They've dragged me in there so many times for questioning, and they believed you were dead even though they hadn't recovered anything from the site that could confirm it. How the hell have you been able to hide from the police?"

Tris openly gapes at Eric. She has no answer to that question. While she hasn't exactly been hiding, she also knows her nomadic life of sleeping at Peter's but also moving from guy to guy across the city doesn't make it exactly easy to find her. She's been employed for several months for a cleaning firm based out of Abnegation. Most of the workers kept to themselves and were paid under the table, herself included. She'd dealt with cash, and once the prepaid rent on the apartment she shared with Tobias ran out she'd just stopped going back.

"I've kind of dropped off the radar." She whispers. "My last job was paid under the table. I had moved in with Tobias a few months ago, so I don't have a place in my own name. I'd been crashing with a friend for the most part since it happened."

Eric narrows his eyes at her and leans forward before speaking again. "What the fuck are you running from?"


	4. Chapter 4

The great part about working every day was the consistent income, but what was even better was the trust that was slowly growing between Tori and Tris. The busy rush week for the local universities didn't allow the two women any time for much personal conversation, however Tris was seeing firsthand that the other woman was battling some demons of her own. She desperately wants to continue the conversation they began on Tris' first night at work, almost a week ago, but she is exercising the patience she has learned that Tori needs to open up a bit.

The buzz of her phone annoys her, she one again silences Peter's call before sliding the phone back into the back pocket of her jeans. She hasn't talked to him since the night he kicked her out of his apartment, but it's not due to lack of effort on his part. Peter has called and sent texts every night for the past four nights, but she refused to answer. Ever since that first night at Eric's when she found out that Christina had blatantly cheated on Will on the very night he died Tris has had a hard time digesting it. She wants to have a conversation with Christina, for months her former best friend has blamed her for losing who she professed was the love of her life, yet she never once mentioned getting drunk and screwing Eric in a car.

Staying with Eric has been a lifesaver, and as a result she's been able to begin saving some money with the hope of one day getting her own place. She's found it easy to work with Eric since they are so familiar with each other, and they've slowly been able to open up to each other since they are both dealing with losing someone important to them when their former place of employment exploded.

She grabs the fresh bar rag from her other pocket to finish wiping down the bar. Bud's officially closes at four each morning, and it's already close to five but she and Tori have gotten the closing routine down to an efficient science.

"So you're living with Eric?" Tori asks nonchalantly as she restocks the beer mugs above their head.

"He's letting me crash there, yeah." Tris carefully responds. This is the first time she's closed with Tori alone, Eric had worked with Bud earlier in the day to do an inventory and cleaning, and he left with a promise to return to pick her up after her shift.

"Were you homeless or something?" She queries. Tori can almost see Tris weighing her options, and she knows she's pushing the young woman into an uncomfortable zone, but she's taking advantage of their alone time to see how far Tris is willing to open up.

"I couldn't go back to my apartment." Tris finally replies. "I lived there with Tobias…" she trails off.

Tori's poker face falls momentarily, but luckily Tris didn't notice since her back is still turned towards her.

"You mean Four." Tori challenges.

"You knew him by the nickname?" Tris asks, stealing a quick glance at Tori.

"I did. It took him awhile to warm up to me. He finally told me his actual name, but it was after many sessions." Tori responds. She matches the nonchalance that Tris is attempting.

"Sessions?" Tris quickly asks. Tori can sense her frustration but she calmly continues stocking their drink glasses.

"He didn't get that piece in one session. You saw it, it was intense." She replies. "You lived with him, as in shared a lease, bills and shit?"

"Well, it was his place officially, I actually lived with my best friend Christina, but I stayed over with Tobias so often he joked I was moving myself in one piece at a time." Tris smiles briefly at the memory. "So, were you with him when he got the tattoo?" Tris asks carefully. She realizes that Tori answers a lot of questions with questions, but timing was everything with her. The more Tris opened up, the more Tori reciprocated.

"I gave him the tattoo." Tori replies. She watches as Tris stops cleaning and turns her body towards her.

"And you have the same one. What does it mean?" Tris asks quickly, her words tumbling out. "I can see your tattoo has been worked within your sleeve, and it's older, but it's still there…"

"If he didn't tell you what it meant it's pretty obvious that he didn't trust you." Tori cuts the over eager woman off angrily.

"He was my boyfriend…"

"He was your nothing little girl. You may have lived in his house but did you ever really know him? Did you have any personal conversations with him at all? You had to sneak a picture of his tattoo while he was sleeping for fucks sake!" Tori yells.

"Hey, what the hell is going on in here?" Eric asks angrily as he sets two helmets on a table near the bar.

Tris doesn't answer, instead she ducks into the back room of the bar. Eric isn't sure, but he thinks he saw her wipe tears from her eyes before she disappeared behind the closed doors. He looks over at Tori and sees the anger in her eyes.

"I'm leaving, you can help her close." Tori huffs as she tosses her apron on the bar.

"What did I walk into here?" He asks as he follows Tori out to the parking lot.

"What do you know about her?" She retorts. "Other than her being the fucking walking dead. No one hears shit from her then she turns up here alive and well! You just take her in and play house?" Tori digs through her purse until she pulls her keys out.

"No ones playing house Tori. She needed a place to stay." He shrugs. Tori turns on her heel and faces him.

"What do you know about her though Eric? Everyone thought she died in the explosion and suddenly she just shows up out of nowhere! You don't see anything unusual about that? What if we're next?"

"Next for what?" Eric asks.

"She's been unaccounted for. She's not once talked to the investigators. She supposedly has nowhere to stay, but she's been missing for months! How can you not think she had something to do with what happened at The Pit?" Tori asks.

Eric has tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to get Tris to talk to the authorities. She's been hesitant, and he blamed it on the survivors guilt that plagues her. He understands, since it sometimes follows him as well. He and Tris have fallen into a nightly routine of drinking a few beers and smoking a joint while winding down from their shifts. Sometimes they talk, other times they share a meal, but mostly it's comfortable conversation that flows between old acquaintances who are becoming new friends.

"That's what this is about? You think I caused the explosion?" Tris asks. Tori drops her head, not realizing the girl had followed them to the parking lot. "I lost my boyfriend there!"

"I lost my husband there!" Tori yells. Eric and Tris both stare openly at Tori.

"You never mentioned that." Eric murmurs while shaking his head, his eyes wide.

"I didn't know until she shows up asking about these!" Tori shouts while yanking her shirt sleeves up and exposing her tattooed arms. "The very same symbols that I've had since I turned sixteen years old. The same ones I tattooed on his back a few weeks later, on his sixteenth birthday. Imagine my surprise to find out she had a picture of my husband's naked back on her phone!"

"What…?" Tris replies weakly.

"Yeah Tris, my husband. Like I said, did you even know him at all?" Tori asks as tears finally break free and run down her cheeks. She unlocks her car, climbs in and turns the engine over.

"Your husband? Tobias wasn't married…" Tris yells at the car. Tori rolls the window down.

"Like I said, you didn't know shit about him. You two can cover me tomorrow, I need some time off." She yells before putting her car in gear and peeling out of the parking lot.

Tris watches helplessly as Tori speeds away. "There's no way he was married."

"Let's go inside." Eric says. He leads the way back in, and the two work in silence until the bar is successfully closed and the doors are locked.

The ride home is quiet as always, and Eric kills the bikes engine before the two walk the bike up to his normal parking space. Eric says nothing as he watches Tris grab her shower supplies and head to one of the buildings communal bathrooms. He grabs his supplies and follows her down, saying nothing as he chooses the stall next to hers. They both shower in silence until Tris finally speaks.

"I know you want answers." She says.

"You don't owe me any explanations Tris." He replies.

"I didn't know he was married. I may be a lot of things but I'm not a fucking home wrecker. Has she ever mentioned him to you?" Tris asks.

Eric sighs and turns off his shower. He begins drying off, then wraps the towel around his waist before exiting the stall.

"She would talk about a husband, yeah. I didn't know his name, but I fucking hated him based on what she told me." Eric replies. "Look, it's not my story to tell."

Tris' stall door opens and her hastily wrapped towel slips a bit as she rushes out. "I lived there Eric. He never once said a word about her. Where was she?" She asks.

Eric rubs a hand across his wet hair. "Again, this isn't my story to tell, and I don't know all of it. I will tell you that they were separated. He'd left her about a year before the explosion. You said it yourself that he never really went out anywhere with you, so maybe that's why."

"I was just his side piece." She says in a broken voice.

"You don't know that." Eric offers and she shakes her head. "Tris, there are obviously things that you and Tori should talk about, but you've got to give her some time. No matter what their status was, she loved him, and she's got to find a way to deal with losing him too."

Tris doesn't say a word, and she moves toward Eric letting her towel slip to the floor. Eric averts his eyes, but Tris grabs his face and turns it toward hers. She leans down to him and puts her lips close to his ear, tickling him with her breath.

"Please make me forget." She whispers in his ear. "I need to forget."

Eric pulls her down to his lap and she yelps in surprise. He grabs her face roughly and its then that he sees the tears falling down her cheeks. Although every part of him wants to bend her over and fuck her raw he instead wraps his arms around her and brings her head down to his shoulder, letting her warm tears fall on him.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello out there, and thank you for your patience. I appreciate everyone who follows my stories, or me as an author. I'm slowly getting my groove back with writing, and I truly appreciate all of the encouragement I've received.**

Chapter 5

Tris takes a swig from the small flask she has buried in her oversized handbag, then grabs her compact to check her appearance in the small mirror. She's aware of sharing space with the morning commuters at this early hour, and her hoodie and jeans combination stands out against the sharp business suits that surround her.

This morning was different, instead of waking up on her normal spot on the loveseat she woke up curled up next to Eric. They were both naked, and although she knew nothing happened last night when she attempted to seduce him, she still felt horrified by her behavior. While she has certainly been no saint since Tobias' death, having numerous one night stands to numb her pain, she never once hooked up with someone she considered a friend. Her friendship with Peter was a perfect example, even though she had been around him numerous times in all stages of sobriety she had never once made a pass at him. She has no idea what came over her last night, and waking up skin to skin with Eric this morning completely threw her off axis.

She takes one last swig from her flask before stashing it inside her bag again, and she steadies herself to exit the bus at the Dauntless stop. She traces the familiar path underground, and takes the elevator down to her destination. She reaches apartment 261 and debates using her key, instead she rings the doorbell and waits nervously. The door opens and a surprised looking Peter steps out. He quickly pulls her into a hug before leaning away so he can look at her.

"Why haven't you returned any of my texts or calls? Where have you been? I've been worried." He says hurriedly.

"I take it that she's here." Tris replies. He furrows his brows before nodding. "Can I come in?"

"Tris…"

"Peter, I'm done hiding from her. Please." She insists.

"I love her Tris, she's important to me. You've both been through enough." Peter replies.

"I promise you all I want is to have a conversation." Tris replies. Peter opens the door and she walks back into the familiar setting of his apartment, the one that is almost identical to the apartment she once shared with Tobias. She pushes the thought from her head and sits down on the couch.

"I'd offer you a drink but based on what I smelled when I hugged you it seems like you already started." He frowns. "It's not even nine AM Tris."

"I didn't come here for a lecture. Water would be good, thanks." She replies. He heads to the kitchen and she fidgets nervously on the couch, while looking around the room.

"She's getting dressed." Peter says as he hands her a bottle of water. "Tris, where have you been?"

"Um, well I got a job, ironically enough at that bar in Candor that I was thrown out of…." Tris begins, but is soon cut off.

"What…the…FUCK…are you doing here?" Christina asks, pausing for drama.

"Babe, there's stuff you should know – " Peter begins.

"Let me guess, she's fucking you too? I mean, there's not really anyone she hasn't fucked since she killed her boyfriend." Christina screeches.

"Christina, that's unnecessary and completely off based. I'm not sleeping with anyone but you, how could you even accuse me of that?" Peter asks.

"I came here to talk, not to fight, but since you want to throw accusations around from your high and mighty pedestal I'll gladly answer your question. No, I am not currently fucking, and have never fucked Peter. Nor have Peter or I ever once cheated on a partner, although I'm one hundred percent positive the same couldn't be said for you." Tris replies. Christina's eyes widen but she's unable to say a word as Tris continues. "Peter, to finish answering your previous question, I've been working at Bud's Place in Candor, and staying with an old friend. You remember Eric Coulter, right?" Tris poses the question to Peter but her hazel eyes bore into Christina's light brown ones as recognition falls across the other girls face.

"Yeah, he was rumored to be the only survivor from The Pit, even though we know at least the two of you made it out of that place. I remember him from when he used to live here in Dauntless too." Peter answers, oblivious to Christina's poorly veiled tension from the mention of Eric's name.

"So you wanted to talk. We can talk. We can go back to my apartment." Christina offers. "I have some of your things there anyway."

"You don't have to leave." Peter replies in a voice tinged with nervousness.

"Baby, we will be fine, I promise." Christina replies. She begins whispering in his ear, and Tris slips out into the hallway, giving Christina time to say goodbye, and to probably smooth things out with Peter. When Christina emerges from the apartment, she doesn't say anything, and Tris silently follows her down the two floors to the apartment they once shared what seems like a lifetime ago. Once inside Tris can see packed boxes and moving materials and Christina notices the look on her face.

"Peter asked me to move in. I'd been hesitant, but he pointed out I stay in his apartment every night anyway and that most of my stuff is there. I am trying to be practical since I still have awhile left on the lease." She replies quietly before clearing off the two accent chairs that Tris immediately recognizes as the ones she and Christina bought to brighten up the basic furniture that all Dauntless apartments come with. They had decided to try to put their own stamp on the cold apartment, and now it's reduced to nothing but boxes and memories.

Christina gestures for Tris to have a seat before continuing. "His place is nice too. I mean, as nice as it can be when it's the same layout as this one. At least it's warmer. I guess you already know though."

"Yup. I stayed with him quite a bit in his guest room." Tris replies, placing emphasis on the word guest.

"Ok, so I am assuming you know about Eric." Christina blurts out in her normal blunt manner.

"You assume correctly." Tris retorts. "How could you blame me for Will knowing you were out fucking someone else in your car that night?"

"Will had broken up with me that day." Christina replies. Tris studies her carefully as she continues. "No explanation, no conversation, nothing. I came home to find out he had moved out. He packed everything Tris, clothes, he took small appliances he had bought, everything. Had I not seem the key on the table I would have thought I was robbed. He wouldn't answer my calls, as a matter of fact he was sending me straight to voicemail. So I ended up at The Chasm, drinking alone, and striking out on the manhunt. I saw Eric and shit just happened. If you are with him now there is no worry from my part."

"That's what you think this is about Chris?" Tris angrily accuses. "You think I came over here on public transit after less than two hours of sleep to get your permission to be with Eric after not speaking with you for over six months?"

"Of course I don't, but I wanted to put it out there that it wouldn't be a thing." Christina replies hastily.

"You are so fucking shallow. How did I never once see that?" Tris replies incredulously. "I lost everything that day – and instead of us being there for each other and pulling each other through this you turned your back on me. You blamed me!"

"He was there because of you!" She shouts back.

"No he wasn't! Christina, he had never once came to The Pit. Four had never once came to The Pit. I had been calling Four trying to get a ride to work because my car wouldn't start and he was sending me to voicemail. I was supposed to start my shift at 8:00 that evening and the bomb went off at 7:15. They weren't there for me!" Tris stops yelling and wipes the tears away from her face.

"Wait, he was ignoring your calls too? Had you talked to him at all that day?" Christina asks.

"Jesus Chris, can you stop with the relationship shit for one second?" Tris yells.

"It's not what you're thinking. Will moves out and leaves his key, and proceeds to ignore me the entire day. Did you talk to Four at all that day?" She asks.

Tris thinks back to the day of the explosion. Tobias was gone when she woke up that morning, which wasn't too unusual since he was a personal trainer and lots of his clients had early appointments. What was unusual was she never once heard from him that day, not even so much as a text.

"No." She whispers.

She's faintly aware of the awkward and highly unusual silence from Christina, but all she can do is keep going over the details of that day in her mind. Tris was working a full time job in addition to her part time job at The Pit, she had left for work that morning not really noticing anything unusual except for the fact that Tobias had cleaned a lot of his normal clutter up. Mostly dirty clothes, but her assumption was he had started a load of laundry. Because of her car breaking down, she wasn't even able to go home, which she normally would have done before her shift at The Pit, where she may have ran into him before heading to her second job.

"I am so sorry. I have been a terrible friend to you. Tris, you never deserved that." Christina finally says, breaking Tris from her thoughts.

"I needed you. I had no one." Tris chokes back a sob and Christina kneels on the floor in front of her. Tris throws her arms around her friend and the two women break down.

"I needed you too, and I am so incredibly stupid and heartless for blaming you. Please forgive me. I am so sorry Tris."

All Tris can do is nod her head and the two friends clutch onto each other until their cries have turned into softer sniffles.

"There's something you should know." Christina says quietly, returning to her chair. Tris narrows her eyes and waits for Christina to continue. "This whole time I've been with Peter, I knew you two were friends. I also knew that you'd been evicted and that the landlord had locked you out of your place. Even though we weren't talking, and I was so angry at you, I didn't want you to lose what little you had left of Four. I paid the back rent, and Peter and I packed your things and stored them."

Tris' eyes widen and she is momentarily at a loss for words.

"The thing is, when we went in to pack everything up for you, it was only your things Tris." She continues.

"What are you talking about, where are his things?" Tris asks.

"There weren't any. At first I didn't think anything of it, because I had assumed that you'd been there and gone through his things. Peter told me that you had refused to go back there after the explosion. Tris, if that is true, then it's very possible that Four also packed his things and left you that day."

"No. That can't be true…" Tris begins and Christina reaches her hand over and grasps Tris.

"Tris, I promise you it is true. I have several boxes here in your old room, you can go through them, but Peter and I found no traces of Four in that apartment when we packed it up." Christina replies softly. She leads Tris back to the bedroom and gestures towards the five boxes that are neatly stacked and taped. Tris and Christina begin to rip the boxes open, where Tris goes through every single item searching in vain for anything that looked like it belonged to Tobias.

"There's nothing…." She whispers.

"Will did the same thing. He erased himself from this apartment when he left and I have no idea why." Christina replies.

Tris finally grabs her shoulder bag and retrieves the flask, opening it and taking a small swig before passing it to Christina, who takes an appreciative drink. The two women sink to the floor, sitting shoulder to shoulder, having both everything and nothing left to say.


	6. Chapter 6

True to her word, Tori had not returned to work for the past three days. Bud cared deeply for the troubled woman, and he gave her the time she asked for without pressure. Since Tori had left without a firm return date, Tris had convinced him to hire hire a temp named Drew, a friend of hers and Peter's who also had bartending experience and he had fit in immediately in the rough around the edges establishment.

Rush week for the local university had finally ended, but business was still better than usual. Tris and Christina had been talking every day, and they had discussed the possibility of Tris coming back to Dauntless to take over her remaining lease. She had been helping Eric with the rent of their room, but she has felt tension with him ever since the night she drunkenly came on to him, and she thought it best if she got her own place sooner rather than later. Last night, Peter picked her up from her shift and she ended up staying over at the apartment he shares with Christina, the three of them talking long into the night about everything they could remember leading up to the explosion at The Pit. Before talking to Tris, Christina had believed that Four had gone to the bar at Tris' request, assuming that she had wanted answers as to why he had moved out of their apartment, and in her mind Will had been with him to diffuse the situation. She now knew that is was something completely different that brought them to The Pit that night.

With Peter and Christina's support, Tris finally went to speak with the detectives before her shift today, and as a result she has been on edge and out of sorts, especially when they began zeroing in on her relationship with Tobias Eaton. After Tris had compared the oddities of Will and Tobias' behavior on that day with Christina, she knew that the focus would shift towards the two deceased men. The two men, who had never previously gone to that bar, who were not outwardly known to be more than friendly acquaintances, both move out of their homes without a word to their significant others. Even more interesting was that Tobias was in fact legally married and may have left his wife in a similar manner.

Tris' thoughts have been scrambled all day, alternating between questioning her own feelings, and wondering if their entire relationship was a lie. When she first lost Tobias, she was in pure shock, and operating on adrenaline. Like many others who lose someone so suddenly she focused only on the good memories, but lately as she's allowed her mind to clear a bit the bad things have been bubbling to the surface.

 _Flashback_

 _"Could you please come out to The Pit tonight? They're having a going away party and I'd love for you to meet my friends?" Tris asks._

 _"Going away party for who?" Tobias asks nonchalantly._

 _"Myra. She's one of the waitresses, remember? She's one of my closest friends there. But there's lots of people I'd like you to meet, and it's damn near impossible to get us all in a room at the same time." She replies._

 _"Why didn't you tell me about this before now?" He demands._

 _Tris is getting tired of Tobias' mood swings lately, but she believes him when he tells her he's feeling pressure at work to perform better but his heart hasn't been into it. At first, that answer had confused Tris, because she knew how much Tobias seemed to love his job, but as usual he dismissed her concerns and told her she wouldn't understand._

 _"I don't know, it's only been an official thing for a couple of days since we needed to make sure we could actually get everyone there. Most of us have multiple jobs you know." She says with a tentative smile._

 _"I've got to work." He answers shortly._

 _"I didn't even tell you what time it was." Tris argues._

 _"It doesn't matter Tris. I don't want to go. Bars are not my thing, they're yours." He replies._

 _"What is that supposed to mean?" She asks._

 _"Exactly what I said. I don't like bars, I don't like the people in them, I don't like drinking or smoking or any of that shit. Tris I work hard to keep my mind and body clean, you know this." He answers with an air of arrogance._

 _"It's one night Tobias. One. These people that you suddenly don't like are important to me. I have friends there who are like my family." She argues._

 _"Your family, Tris?" He asks with a wry chuckle. "Your family are the people who refuse to even talk to you because of your little fucking bar life. Maybe if you surround yourself with better people your real family would speak to you."_

 _"That's below the fucking belt and you know it!" Tris shouts. "I trust you enough to talk about my past and what does that get me? Judgment, by you, someone who claims to care about me. You can stay home, or work, or do whatever it is that you do that keeps you out all hours. I don't even care anymore."_

 _"Tris…" Tobias begins in a firm voice._

 _"Enjoy whatever, or whoever she is." Tris replies, grabbing her shoulder bag and slamming the door behind her on her way out._

 _End Flashback_

It's the quiet time at the end of the night when Tris' numbness starts to subside, and she grabs a bottle of whiskey from the bar and two glasses. Eric wordlessly takes a shot with her, then another, and shakes his head at the offer of a third.

"I've gotta drive." He rumbles before returning to cleaning the bar. She sighs and returns the bottle.

The two continue cleaning in silence, only speaking to say goodbye to the departing back of house staff. Eric is frustrated with himself, because he's feeling anger and even jealousy over the fact that Tris left with a guy last night and never came home. He realizes things have been a bit awkward between them, only because they haven't had any real time to talk about Tris' drunken pass, or the fact that she fell asleep in his arms.

"Are you gonna bother coming home tonight?" Eric asks. Tris turns to look at him with a confused expression on her face.

"Do you not want me to?" She counters.

"You seem to have other places to stay. With other guys." Eric answers roughly. Before she can speak, the slam of the bar entrance startles them, they expect to see a kitchen straggler who forgot something but instead an angry Tori is barreling towards Tris.

"What the fuck did you tell the cops?" Tori seethes.

"What?" Eric asks, looking between the two women.

"The cops show up at my apartment today, wanting to bring me down for questioning because of her!" Tori shouts.

"I only answered their questions." Tris replies in a shaky voice.

"You finally spoke to the investigators?" Eric asks Tris.

"They never once spoke to me before you." Tori growls.

"Wait a minute, how did you never speak to them? Didn't they notify you as Four's next of kin?" Eric asks.

"Oh, you mean she didn't tell you?" Tori asks. Eric looks at Tris, who casts her eyes to the ground. "She's a fucking liar."

"What are you talking about?" Eric asks. He looks over at Tris before continuing, "When did you go to the cops?"

"The detectives never reached out to me because they never recovered anything that could confirm that Four died in the explosion. There is absolutely none of his DNA recovered on anything there. They cannot confirm he was actually present when the explosion happened." Tori replies.

"Can we please talk about all of this?" Tris asks. "I don't want to fight with you Tori. I know you don't believe me, but I had absolutely no idea Tobias was married when we were seeing each other. I've recently been back in contact with my best friend Christina, it was her boyfriend Will that was with Tobias that night. She and I finally had a chance to talk and we found there were some very odd things that happened that day. I can call her and see if she will come out here. Please Tori."

Tori pushes her dreds back from her face, and massages her temples. She wants answers too, especially after hearing everything the detectives laid out today. She doesn't speak, instead nodding her head towards Tris, who quickly takes her phone out and begins making calls. A tension filled half hour passes before there is a knock at the bar entrance, and Tris escorts a man and woman in.

"You two obviously already know each other." Tris gestures between Eric and Christina, who both shoot her dirty looks. "Tori, these are my friends Peter and Christina."

Eric looks at Peter and recognition falls over him. "You're the guy she left with last night." He accuses.

"Yeah, I picked her up and she stayed over with Christina and me." Peter replies. He sees a look of both anger and confusion on the larger man's face. "Oh, you thought there was something going on…"

"Not my business". Eric gruffly dismisses.

"They are my best friends, and they are in a relationship. With each other." Tris adds. She is seeing for the first time that the awkwardness between Eric and her may be part communication issues, and part jealousy.

With the initial introductions out of the way, the five sit down around a table inside the bar. Tris and Christina begin, explaining to their group the strange behavior of both Will and Tobias clearing out their belongings from each apartment without speaking to either women. They go on to explain the two men were presumed dead since it was verified by the surveillance video at the bar that both men were present in the minutes up to the explosion, caught on a camera feed that refreshed every five minutes and was saved into a cloud server that was hosted off premises.

"They told me the same thing about the surveillance and how it refreshed, however they said there were several minutes between the last refresh and the explosion itself in which people could have left." Tori sighs. "You're telling me that Four moved out the day this happened?" Tori asks Tris.

"Yes. He had already left for work by the time I got up, and when my car broke down at my first job I couldn't make it back to the apartment. I hadn't been back to the apartment since he died, and I ended up getting evicted because I couldn't afford the rent. Christina and Peter packed the apartment for me, and there was nothing of his left." Tris sighs. "He and I didn't speak at all that day."

"The cops grilled me about our relationship. Especially since he left me in a similar fashion." Tori replies.

"Wait, Four moved out on you too?" Christina asks. Tori shoots the other woman an angry look.

"She's blunt, sorry." Peter offers on Christina's behalf.

"I apologize for my directness. It's just that you seem to have answers, even if you don't realize you do. I think we all may, once we have all of the details of our individual stories out. It seems that they are puzzle pieces that are begging to be solved." Christina offers.

Tori shakes her head before standing, gathering her jacket and turning towards the door of the bar.

"Tori, please don't leave." Tris begs. "This may be our chance to finally get some answers."

"Get your answers somewhere else. I owe you all nothing." She replies without turning back, heading straight out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thank you for all of the reviews and encouragement! I'm finally a few chapters ahead on this story, so hopefully I can keep the creative brain working :) enjoy.**

Tris and Eric both jump up and follow Tori out the door, both yelling her name. At first she does not respond, however when Eric sprints to catch up with her the brunette comes to a stop and turns to face them.

"I can't keep doing this." She says while pacing back in forth in front of them. "He had been my husband for seven years before he left me. He's still my husband to this day, we never even divorced. I mourned him leaving me three years ago. I believed he was dead when you showed up with your fucked up stories. I am mourning him again and then the cops tell me there's no proof he died that night. I can't."

"I understand you don't know me and have no reason to trust me, but I swear to you I never knew he was married. I wouldn't have gotten involved with him had I known." Tris says to the crying woman.

"Tor, I lost my best friend in that explosion. I also lost my ex-girlfriend, who I cared deeply for. I can't pretend I know exactly what you're going through, but I definitely know a little bit about loss." Eric offers.

Tris glances over at Eric, knowing that it's hard for him to open up about losing his best friend Max or his ex-girlfriend Lauren. She offers him a sympathetic smile and nods at him.

"I want answers." Tori says once she's calmed down a bit.

"I want them for you. I believe you deserve them." Tris replies softly. "I think if we can all calmly discuss what we each know we may be able to put something together. Christina was right, we all hold pieces to this puzzle. Tori nods, steeling herself before walking back into the bar, much to Eric and Tris' surprise. They both rush in after her.

"I know you all want answers, I can tell you everything I know." Tori says as she returns to her seat at the table.

She goes on to open up about her past, and begins to explain how she and Four became acquainted. Tori and Four were both in and out of foster care, Tori since the age of two, and Four showed up sometime around his eighth birthday. They occasionally had a foster family, however the majority of their time was spent in a group home, surrounded by the other kids who were deemed too old or too much trouble for people to want to adopt. When they were fourteen, they met a nineteen year old named Jeanine Matthews who seemed to be living a very luxurious life. She always had nice clothes, a newer model car, and money seemed to be no object to her.

At first, their friendship seemed too good to be true, with Jeanine and her group of friends always taking Tori and Four to the movies, out to eat or other fun little excursions. Soon, they were tasked with little "favors" for Jeanine – sometimes it was as simple as delivering a package, other times it was shoplifting a fancy pair of jeans from the upper class stores. Tori was enchanted with their new friends, and with the little bit of money she and Four were able to have in their pockets. Over the course of the next two years, Tori and Four fell in love, both with each other and with their new lifestyle, and enthusiastically performed any request that Jeanine had. They made deliveries, pickups, and soon they were brought into the inner folds of what Jeanine called the family and given more responsibility than just anonymous deliveries. She now knew they were running weapons and drugs, both buying and selling as needed. Four was not as enthusiastic at first, but soon he became a natural lookout, and he was referred to as one of their watch dogs. Suddenly they had what almost felt like a family, and by the time Tori reached her sixteenth birthday she happily let Jeanine permanently ink the symbols on her body that signified they were indeed sisters. A few weeks later, Tori gave Four the same tattoo, and for the first time in his life he confessed his given name to Tori, and explained what little he remembered about his abusive birth parents before he ended up in foster care.

Tobias and Tori married at seventeen, and for a while life seemed almost perfect in their eyes. They had a steady income, a group of friends who would do anything for them, and a purpose in life. Sure, there had been some dangerous situations at times, when they had to draw their weapons in order to keep a client in line, but the two teenagers felt almost invincible. That is, until one night changed their trajectory completely, a night of a terrible shoot out that was later referred to as a gang-related territory war, a night that ended in Jeanine Matthews bleeding out in Tori's arms while the rest of their so-called family scattered. Tori was barely twenty two years old, and she lost her best friend outside of Tobias.

Jeanine's death changed the young couple, with Tori adamantly wanting to get revenge for Jeanine's death and she began making moves to bring their family back together. Four wanted no parts of their life of crime, and in his efforts to get his wife away from it as well they had picked up and moved to the quiet Abnegation neighborhood, where he believed that they could start fresh. The young couple began to drift apart when Tori continued to search for Jeanine's killers and within the first two years of Jeanine being gone she also lost her husband when she came home one day to a completely empty apartment. She tried repeatedly to reach Tobias, but he changed his number and never made any effort to reach out to Tori.

Broken and alone, she reached out to Bud, one of the few friends she had that were not part of the gang life, who she had heard through the grapevine had bought a bar/restaurant in the Candor borough. After a lengthy conversation, and a promise to Bud that she was done with illegal activity, she ended up with a job, and place on his couch until she could get on her feet. She'd been working with Bud for almost two years now, and even though she missed her husband she also was used to losing people and she had found a way to forgive him even if he never bothered asking for it. She was finally starting to thrive on her own when Tris showed up out of the blue, asking about her estranged husband.

"This tattoo thing, what does it look like?" Christina asks.

Tori lifts the sleeves of her sweatshirt and shows everyone her inner arms, where the faded symbols are enmeshed with her sleeve artwork.

"My God." Christina whispers. "Will had those too, on his upper arm. He had just gotten them, maybe a month before the explosion."

"What? No. There's no way." Tori argues.

"Yes, he has those exact symbols." Christina digs through her purse and pulls out her phone, scrolling through until she finds what she needs. "I deleted everything off of my phone, but the pictures are still on the cloud, look."

She passes the phone to a shocked Tori, who views a close up of a tattooed arm.

"Do you have pictures of his face? I want to see if I know him." Christina nods. She moves closer to Tori and they scroll through the images.

"I don't recognize him. He must be someone new in the fold." She says quietly.

"So do you think were they the targets?" Peter asks.

"That or the ones who orchestrated the whole thing." Eric responds.

"No fucking way." Christina bites back.

"Yes fucking way. Christina, your boyfriend moves out on you without as much as a conversation! He leaves you nothing to go on. Tris was living with a guy who wouldn't be seen out in public with her, who also moves his shit out, and ignores her all day too." Eric argues.

"Tobias could have disabled your car too… to keep you away from The Pit that night." Peter agrees.

Tris and Christina share a look, both realizing they had no idea who, or what, they were involved with. When Eric lights a joint, no one protests, instead they all take their turns and pass it around. The five of them together may have been, at best, acquaintances when this night began, but after this conversation that will change, and they may have to lean on each other a little more.

"I never knew anything about this." Christina says. "Will was so normal, so loving and caring."

"Four was too, before he got in so deep with this group." Tori replies softly. "We were so young, and so in love." She glances over at Tris, realizing that her anger at the other woman is likely misdirected. "I'm sure you loved him too."

"Our relationship was different." Tris begins. Eric glances at her, gauging how far she's willing to open up. They have had many personal conversations about the good, bad and ugly of both of their former relationships, but he knows how closed off she tends to be when it comes to discussing anything to do with him. "I wouldn't call what we had love. I thought we had a good connection, but he was very secretive in his interactions with me and I can now say I'm pretty sure outside of the Chris and Peter no one else even knew we were together, even though he had me move in with him." Tris feels fingers entwining with hers and she's grateful when she realizes its Eric. "We never went out anywhere in public. He didn't open up to me much about his past, outside of him telling me his name, and he never introduced me to any friends. I had no idea Will and he were anything more than casual acquaintances."

Their group is completely silent, only taking an occasional sip of their drinks, or passing the shared joint between them.

"I think that you three may need to go back to the authorities, together." Peter says as he gestures towards Tori, Christina and Tris. "With what you've all discussed tonight it's obvious there is a lot more to this incident and it's possible that any or all of you are in danger."

After a bit more conversation, Tori says she needs to go home and digest everything she's learned. Peter and Christina follow, leaving Tris and Eric to finish closing down the bar. Once they make it back to their shared room in Amity, Tris goes straight to the fridge to get them both a beer. She can feel the heat from Eric's body close to hers and she turns to face him, and before she can change her mind she pulls his face down to hers and captures his lips in a heated kiss. Eric immediately responds, and he pushes his body against hers, pressing her into the wall. He puts his hands on either side of her face and kisses down her jaw, moving closer to her neck. When Tris reaches down to his belt and begins unbuckling it he angrily pushes her away.

"Don't do this shit." He growls. "I'm not your fucking distraction."

"Eric…"

He grabs his jacket and helmet and lets the door slam shut behind him, leaving Tris without a word.


	8. Chapter 8

The day after their group conversation, Tori returned to work, and things slowly started to settle down. Business had become good enough for Bud to offer Drew a permanent position, and his girlfriend Molly also came on part time as a floating bartender/wait staff.

Tris, Drew and Eric had been working together most nights, but after Eric angrily left her after their kiss she had begun to stay over in Dauntless to avoid the growing tension between them. Instead of the two of them having a conversation, they both had chosen the familiar path of avoidance and Tris quietly moved back into the apartment that she formerly shared with Christina. She knew it would be tight, but with a few months of prepaid rent left on the lease she could afford to swing it until she decided her next career move.

With the extra help at the bar, she had her first day off since starting at Buds and she planned on spending it sleeping off her latest bender. Last night, she had gotten off a bit early since Eric was teaching Drew how to close, and she ended up drinking alone at one of the few remaining bars in Dauntless, The Chasm, and she had even managed to find someone who was willing to take her back to their place for a little extra fun. However, when it came down to the man getting Tris in his bed she balked, and she ended up leaving the apartment in tears. Tris knows she was plenty drunk last night, and when she is in that state of inebriation she has always been more than willing to forget everything in no strings attached sex, but something held her back last night and she has no idea why.

The incessant knocking on her door was ignorable at first, but the person is rather persistent and she wraps her blanket around herself and stomps to the door. All she sees when she peers out of the peephole of her door is the label of her favorite coffee from the local shop.

She opens the door and finds the person holding the coffee is Eric.

"I come in peace." He says with a smirk, holding the coffee out to her.

Tris grabs the coffee and smiles. "I tentatively accept your offering. Please come in." She steps aside, and as he passes she notices that he has another coffee, and a box bearing the label of the bakery attached to the coffee shop. "How'd you find me?"

Eric contemplates his response. He's been angry with Tris for leaving without warning, however, he knows he did the same thing to her the last night she was at his room in Amity. If he truly wants to fix the uncomfortable rift between them coming at her with accusations or anger isn't the answer.

"I asked around." He shrugs.

Eric had thought she was ignoring him at first when his numerous texts went unanswered, and she had all but avoided anything personal at work. When he finally manned up and called her, he learned her phone number was currently disconnected. The truth be told he had been asking everyone he knew if they had seen her these past few days. He finally had a lead when his workout buddy told him this morning that Tris had gone home with one of their mutual acquaintances last night, and that she had left the man's apartment in tears. Eric waited until the still ungodly early hour of 8:00 before banging on her door this morning to make sure she was ok.

"I got the peppermint mocha coffee, I thought you might like the seasonal flavor or whatever. Plus they had these pumpkin spice things that I thought we could try." He replies awkwardly as he sets the box of baked goods on her small dining table.

"This all sounds wonderful, thank you Eric." Tris replies gratefully. She makes both of them a plate of the pumpkin scones before sitting down at the small table with Eric.

"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting." Eric says around a bite of scone. He decides not to waste his time by beating around the bush.

"You're apologizing to me?" Tris replies incredulously.

"Yeah." He says simply.

"But I was an idiot." The words begin tumbling out of her mouth. "I got drunk and came on to you, twice. I don't do that. You were really the only friend I had."

"Tris, you're going through a lot of shit right now, I wasn't mad that you came on to me."

"But you seemed like you were." Tris replies quietly. Silence falls between the two again until Tris speaks again. "I'm sorry for leaving without saying anything to you. I was just embarrassed by my behavior, and waking up naked in your bed that one morning, plus you walking out on me the other night kind of threw me for a loop. Then all of the shit I've learned after talking with Chris and Tori, it's been a lot to handle."

"Which is why I didn't want you to be alone Tris." Eric replies with a hint of anger in his voice. "I'd been texting you without any response, and when I finally called I find out your phone is disconnected. You left me without so much as a note, and then I hear from a buddy of mine that you're leaving some dude's apartment in tears last night…"

"Oh so you're keeping tabs on me now?" She retorts angrily.

"No Tris, not like that." He sighs irritably.

"How is it then?" She asks.

"Ok, so the other night, when you came on to me looking for a distraction, I couldn't do it." Eric begins, getting a bit flustered and tripping over his words. "Believe me, it wasn't because I didn't want to, it's because it didn't feel like it was the right thing to do."

"That's why I feel so terrible about it now." Tris interjects.

"Yeah, but what you don't understand is I normally don't have that kind of moral compass Tris. I mean, you know I fucked Christina and I couldn't even stand her. I have absolutely no issues with casual sex, as long as my dick cooperates." He shuts his eyes and shakes his head. "Sorry, that was inappropriate."

"Um, so you're saying you weren't up for the occasion… like I'm not pretty enough for you?" Tris asks while picking at her breakfast.

"Jesus, this conversation is not going where I want it to go. What I am trying to say is I cared about what happened afterward. I didn't want to _just_ fuck you. I didn't want you to leave afterward and that be it, because I care about you. So I tried to be there for you, as your friend, and dammit if you didn't leave anyway." He replies. Tris notices that he has what almost appears to be a look of defeat on his face.

"I'm not good at conversations like these either." Tris replies softly. "I care about you too, which is why I was absolutely horrified when I woke up those next days and realized what I had done. Do you think we can start over?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." He replies. "This is a nice place. Is it yours?" He offers in an attempt to change the subject.

"It was at one point yes, I lived here with Christina. She's moved in with Peter, and there are a few months of paid rent left on her lease so she invited me to stay here." She replies. "Didn't you live in Dauntless before?"

"Oh, so now you're keeping tabs on me?" He asks playfully.

"Nope. Peter just happened to mention it." Tris replies with a smile.

Eric did one live in the sprawling underground complex, in an apartment he shared with Lauren. When they broke up, he found the room in Amity at the recommendation of one of the bar regulars. He explains that to Tris as the two leisurely finish their breakfast. The two carry on an easier conversation, much like their normal after work talks, except this time they are both completely sober.

"I want to take you somewhere. You should change." Eric says suddenly, regarding her sweatpants and tank top combo she slept in last night.

"So demanding." Tris teases. "Dress up or dress down?"

"Casual. Warm." He replies.

Within half an hour they are both bundled up and on his bike, Tris trusting Eric's promise that she'd like whatever he was dragging her to. Even with all of her layers, she's still cold, and she wraps herself around Eric. When they are stopped at a traffic light she attempted to pull away, but he wrapped a free arm around her arm and absentmindedly ran his hand across hers.

She breaks into a huge smile when he pulls into the parking lot of the Navy Pier, and she can't contain her excitement once they've parked. Eric helps her out of her helmet and sees the grin on her face.

"We're really here?" Tris asks.

"You said you'd never been here. Figured you might like it." He shrugs.

Eric having been there many times over the course of living in Chicago decided to give Tris the full tourist experience with guided boat tours and hitting all of the important spots. They take their time exploring the area, taking the opportunity to try different snacks and ride the various rides. When they finally approach the Buckingham Fountain Tris stops in her tracks, causing Eric to run into her.

"It's beautiful." She whispers.

"It's definitely something." He murmurs as he leads her closer. Tris brings out her phone and takes selfies of the two of them, grumbling when she doesn't get the shot she wants.

"Can you try, your arms are longer." She asks. He takes her phone and takes several more pictures, getting Tris' approval.

He notices how cold she is and makes an offer to take them home, however she declines because she is having a good time with him. He puts an arm around her and pulls her closer, and he smiles as she snuggles into his warmth.

"What happened with the guy last night?" He asks. Although he knows it's none of his business, his curiosity gets the best of him.

"Nothing. I wanted a distraction and he was willing to give me one, but I couldn't." She answers.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Eric inquires.

"No. I just didn't want to be there with him." She replies without taking her eyes off of the fountain. "I'm kind of like you with the whole moral compass thing. I know that sounds bad."

"Tris, I am not judging you. There's none of that bullshit double-standard. You are a single woman and can do whatever you want." He offers.

"Most people don't look at it that way, but I'm being careful so it's none of their damn business. Anyway, last night just didn't feel right. I thought I wanted a distraction, but I didn't, nor did I want to be there with him." Tris replies. "I'm so done running away from my emotions. Losing Tobias the way I did was horrible, but the more I am learning about him and his past makes me realize I never knew him at all. I have spent so long just drowning my sorrows, and now I want to start living again."

"Today's the first day in a long time that I haven't wanted a drink. I haven't even really thought about it." Eric says quietly.

"Me too. It's a nice feeling." Tris replies and Eric nods.

It's quiet between the two for several minutes before Eric finally speaks.

"You're shivering. Let's go find somewhere to eat, inside and warm." He says as he stands up, offering his hand to help Tris stand. She takes it, and neither of them pull away from each other as they make their way to find a restaurant, hand-in-hand.


	9. Chapter 9

Tris paces nervously outside of the police station, drawing yet another sigh from Christina. The two women were supposed to meet Tori to speak with the detectives over fifteen minutes ago, but Tori has yet to show up, and they are unable to reach her.

"We should just go in there and tell them what we know. She's been putting us off for over a week Tris. They can always go and pick her up separately." Christina says.

"She's gonna show up. Eric and I talked to her last night after work. She's ready." Tris argues.

Christina sighs again and rolls her eyes. She opens her mouth to speak, but she snaps it shut when she sees the tall brunette walking towards them.

"Sorry." Tori offers without any further explanation. The three women walk into the office in silence and are quickly ushered to an interview room.

"Hello again ladies." Detective Amar Johnson says as he takes a seat at the table across from them. "You remember my partner, detective Teresa Alvarez." He introduces the compact, fit woman next to him. "I appreciate you all coming together. We've spoken to you each individually, and I believe speaking as a group would be beneficial to the case, as I explained to Mrs. Eaton on the phone earlier today."

Christina and Tris both look at Tori but she only looks straight ahead.

"This is a high level overview of what we know thus far." Detective Alvarez continues. "Tobias Eaton and William Douglas we're both affiliated with the Divergent crime organization. Mrs. Victoria Eaton was once involved in this same gang, however she does not remember Mr. Douglas from her time with them. Mr. Eaton left Mrs. Eaton over two years ago without an explanation, and from the timeline we've gathered speaking with the three of you separately it seems as he was involved with Miss Beatrice Prior for several months before he left Mrs. Eaton."

"No, that can't be right." Tris argues.

"He moved out of our house in August." Tori replies, looking directly at Tris.

"From what you answered before Miss Prior, you indicated you first began to date Mr. Eaton in June." Detective Johnson replies. "And the two of you had moved in together in January of last year."

"I'm so sorry Tori. I didn't know." Tris says.

"I believe you." Tori answers. She offers Tris a brief smile.

"Based on the timeline from Miss Christina Cuffee, she met Mr. William Douglas in April of that same year and began a dating relationship as well." Detective Alvarez continues. "Based on your separate statements, neither Miss Prior nor Miss Cuffee were aware of anything more than a casual friendship between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Eaton, correct?"

"That's correct. Will said he knew Four, err Tobias from seeing him around the gym, but they weren't necessarily friends, they really didn't know each other. They officially met when Tris and Four would have us over at their apartment once in a while for dinner or a movie. Sometimes they came over and played cards with us." Christina replies.

"Miss Prior, at any time did you know of Mr. Eaton's past relationship with Mrs. Eaton?" Detective Alvarez asks.

"No." She replies.

"Was there anything unusual in his behavior that gave you any reason to suspect he may have been involved in something or with someone else?"

Tris closes her eyes and sighs, wishing she had a drink. She's not wanted to drink outside of the few drinks at the bar, or maybe one beer while sharing an actual meal with Eric at her apartment after their shift, but today she feels the familiar nervousness and anxiety that has plagued her for months.

"Tobias never wanted to go out in public with me, and even though he was a personal trainer who kept long hours I believed he was involved in something more." She answers slowly. "He would often come home extremely late at night, which made no sense as I couldn't imagine someone would want personal training overnight. He also was very protective of his phone, and I found out late in our relationship he had other phones. He claimed to use them for training clients so he didn't have to give out his personal number."

"Mrs. Eaton…" The detective turns to Tori. "had you been in contact with Mr. Eaton at all after he left your home?"

"No. I suspected he had met someone in the spring before he left. We had been together a long time, so it was easy for me to pick up on any oddities in him. I honestly believed he had gotten back with Divergent, I never suspected another woman, and never did until she showed up at Bud's Place." Tori replies.

The women spend over an hour with the detectives laying out their separate, but overlapping stories. The detectives let them know that they'd finally received all of the DNA evidence back from the crime labs, and while it did help identify other victims, it did not find any evidence of Will or Tobias having perished in the explosion. Their focus had shifted to finding the two men who they now suspected as being involved in the explosion. The detective warned the three women to be aware of their surroundings, and to contact them immediately if they heard from either men.

Christina and Tris had been trying to get Tori to warm up to them a bit more, but she was still guarded and took off right after the interview, without speaking much more than a quick goodbye to them. Christina had already planned on giving Tris a ride to work, however her car wouldn't start and the women were now waiting for Peter to arrive. A nice passerby tried to jump start Christina's car, but the engine wouldn't even turn over, frustrating her since her car was barely six months old.

"You're going to wear a hole in the ground." Christina says to Tris in an effort to stop her friend from pacing.

"I'm gonna be late to work." Tris replies anxiously. "I feel bad because Drew is covering for me so I could be here today."

"I can call you an Uber." Christina offers. Tris smiles and shakes her head.

"I appreciate that, but I'm not leaving you here alone." She replies.

Christina and Tris had been spending more time together, when their schedules allowed it. Chris had just started working as an overnight in her job as an ER nurse, and she was having a hard time adjusting to the sleep schedule, which probably explained her grumpiness this afternoon. Since Peter's new job at an IT security firm also had him working overnight it was beneficial for their relationship for her to finally take the better paying graveyard shift that no one else wanted. The two women had missed each other greatly over the almost eight months they were out of contact, but they had been spending as much time as possible together in the many weeks they'd been back in each other's lives.

Tris texts Eric to at least warn him she may be a little late to work. He went in early again to help Bud with inventory, which she was supposed to be helping with, but with her decision to go to the police he brought Drew along for the training experience. She smiles when he sends a return pic taken from the perspective of him having his feet up on a chair while Drew counts the numerous bottles of liquor from the top shelf of the bar.

"What are you grinning at?" Christina asks and Tris shows her the pic. She scoffs and shakes her head. "Seems like he's working hard."

"Bud promoted him to manager. He's managing." Tris argues.

"Is that a conflict?" She asks. Tris furrows her brows in confusion. "I mean with you two, and him managing you."

"Um, no, why would it be?" Tris asks.

"Conflict of interest managing a significant other…" Christina says before Tris interrupts.

"We're not together." Tris replies.

"Seriously, Tris? He's been at your house for the past three nights." Christina retorts.

"Your spying skills are slacking." Tris smirks at her friend. "He's actually been there the last **_six_** nights, in my **_guest_** room. We've worked late and it just makes sense that he crash after we unwind." Tris replies easily.

"So, for the past two plus months that you two have been working together and living together, you mean to tell me nothing has happened." Christina accuses.

"I came onto him twice while I was drunk, back when I was staying with him in Amity. I was an idiot." Tris sighs. "Both times he turned me down. We've talked through that debacle, and also about the fact that we care about each other a lot, but we're not together."

"But you want to be." Christina states.

"Yeah, I think I do." Tris agrees. She's looking down at her feet, so she misses the smile that spreads across Christina's face. "He took me to Navy Pier last week when we finally had a day off, we spent the day there together doing all of the tourist type stuff. It was nice."

"Seems like a date to me." Christina replies with a smile.

"It felt like one." Tris replies. "How are things with Peter?" She asks, quickly changing the subject.

"Good." Christina replies, understanding that this as much as her notoriously private friend will be willing to share. "He's not who I expected."

"How did you two happen? It seems as if you didn't much like him before." Tris asks.

"I thought he was an asshole, but I knew the two of you had been friends for a while, and then I saw how much he was there for you after you lost Four. I went straight into my angry phase, and he was there for me too. He's such a good guy Tris."

Tris nods along. Peter was absolutely her rock as she slipped further into her depression. He gave her a good balance of tough love and support, and while others in her situation may have been angry when he took a stand and cut her off temporarily, Tris was grateful because it forced her to start caring for herself again.

The two women continue to talk, trying to be patient while waiting for Peter. Christina peppers off texts to her boyfriend, afraid he has fallen back to sleep after she had to wake him up to come get them.

"If he fell back to sleep I'm going to kill him." Christina complains as she dials Peter's number. Tris listens as the phone rings continuously through Christina's speakerphone, and Christina hangs up as his voicemail picks up.

There is suddenly a flurry of activity as the two women watch plain clothes and uniformed detectives rushing to their cars in the adjacent lot.

"Miss Cuffee, Miss Prior!" Detective Johnson shouts when he sees the two of them huddled next to Christina's car. "Stay right there."

The two women watch the older detective run towards them. He begins to usher them inside the building.

"Where are we going? What's wrong?" Christina asks.

"Have you two been here the whole time?" Detective Alvarez asks as she joins them.

"Yes. Her car wouldn't start…" Tris sputters.

"The cameras." Detective Johnson says to Detective Alvarez.

"On it." She responds before breaking into a jog in the opposite direction down the long corridor.

"What is happening? Why are we here?" Tris asks as they are led to a room much like the one they were interviewed in earlier.

"Wait here, please. I'll be right back." Detective Johnson replies before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

"I have no fucking service in this building." Christina groans. Tris slides her phone over to Christina, who frantically dials Peter's number.

"Are you ok?" He practically shouts. Christina pulls the phone from her ear and puts it on speaker.

"So you'll answer for her but not your woman." Christina sarcastically replies.

"Babe, are you two ok?" He asks again. "Oh my God… are you ok? Tris?"

"Yeah I'm here, we're both ok, we're still at the detectives office, what is wrong?" Tris asks. She and Christina immediately share the same panicked look.

"You don't know, it's all over the news, oh my God I have been so worried." He stammers. "There was another explosion."

"Where?" Tris shouts.

"Bud's Place." Peter replies.

Tris jumps from her chair and grabs at the phone, hanging up on Peter so she can dial Eric's number. His phone goes immediately to his voicemail and Christina gets up and puts her arms around her shocked best friend.


	10. Chapter 10

Tris and Christina sat clutching each other in the room, both locked in, neither understanding what had happened or why they were being detained. Christina finally got through to Peter again, and he was sitting in the waiting room of the offices they were being held in. What no one could tell them was the current condition of Bud's Place, or any survivors. Christina finally found a news station who was live streaming their story from as close to Bud's as they could get, and while the explosion was nowhere near the complete wipeout of The Pit, which also ruined many businesses that were close by, it was obvious to both women that the chances of finding a survivor from what they could see was unlikely.

Tris kept repeatedly calling and texting Eric but got no response. Her anxiety was through the roof and she couldn't stop crying no matter how much Christina tried to calm her down. Finally she just curled up on the floor of the interview room with her head in Christina's lap.

"Ladies, I am very sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. We need to verify some information." Detective Johnson says as he and Detective Alvarez enter the room.

"You needed to check our alibi." Christina retorts angrily. "You've left us in here with no way of knowing if the people we know are ok."

"I'm very sorry Miss Cuffee, your friend Peter is waiting outside in the reception area." Detective Alvarez offers.

"What about the people who were in the bar?" Tris asks.

"From what our colleagues have gathered, the business was closed this morning for inventory, and it was not due to open until dinner time. We are working to account for the employees who were onsite." Detective Alvarez answers.

"Eric Coulter." Tris repeats, over and over as Christina tries her best to comfort her.

"Miss Prior, we don't have any updates to share." Detective Johnson says.

The two detectives questioned the women together for almost an hour, asking the same types of questions repeatedly regarding the two missing men they formerly dated. Christina was finally released, but they kept Tris longer, peppering her with questions, conversation and outright accusations regarding her knowledge or involvement in the second act of violence at a place she worked. She spent almost three exhausting hours answering the detective's questions before finally being released. A sympathetic Detective Alvarez escorted her the waiting room of the building with a promise to keep in touch with any news they received. She had asked the detectives repeatedly about Eric, but she kept getting the canned answer that they were doing their best to locate any survivors and identify any victims. She knew from the multiple texts on her phone that Peter and Christina had been sent home, they had offered to come back for her whenever she was done, however both are now at work and she's hesitant to contact them for a ride. Instead, she continues to pepper many unanswered texts to Eric and calls his number repeatedly, listening to his short voicemail greeting over and over just to hear his voice.

"Kelly?" A voice calls out. "Kelly, is that you? Hey… it's Zeke…" The uniformed police officer calls as he walks towards her.

 _Flashback_

 _"You here alone?" Someone asks from her left. Tris turns slightly to look at the man who posed the question. He's tall and handsome, with dark mocha skin, curly hair, brown eyes and a lanky build._

 _"Yup." Tris replies, popping the P._

 _"Me too. Mind some company?" He asks. Tris nods and pulls out the bar stool next to her. The man sits and signals for the bartender. "What are you drinking?" He asks Tris._

 _"Bourbon." She replies. The man asks for two and the bartender pours two glasses, setting them down in front of the pair._

 _"Name's Zeke." The man sitting next to her offers._

 _"Kelly." She lies._

 _"Nice to meet you Kelly." He says with a smile. She can tell by the slight slur of his words that he's a bit drunk, much like herself. "What's a beautiful woman like you doing drinking alone?"_

 _Tris considers her answer. The truth is she's been drinking herself stupid for the past six months, after her place of employment blew up, and ever since she got a hysterical phone call from her best friend Christina that same night accusing her of causing the death of her boyfriend. Christina had already been in contact with the authorities, who believed that her boyfriend Will had died in the explosion along with her own boyfriend Tobias, and ever since that very painful conversation with her former friend Tris has been spending as much time away from anyone she knows as possible._

 _"It's been a shitty few months." She offers in response. "What's got you drinking alone?"_

 _"Same." He replies sadly._

 _"How so?" She asks before she can manage to stop herself._

 _"You remember that explosion?" He asks. Every muscle in Tris' body tenses as she nods her head in affirmation. "I lost people there." He slurs._

 _"Who did you lose?" Tris asks eagerly. She realizes her insensitivity immediately. "I'm sorry for your loss."_

 _"My brother was there that night, along with my best friend. I was supposed to meet them out there after my shift, around 9:00 or so, but for some reason those assholes were actually early for a change." He replies as he signals the bartender for refills. "They never showed up anywhere early, and shit Four hardly ever stepped foot in a bar."_

 _Tris coughs at the mention of her boyfriend's nickname. Zeke pats her on her back._

 _"Sorry didn't mean to make you choke." He offers._

 _"Your friend's name was Four? Like the number?" She asks, trying her best to cover up her nervousness._

 _"Yeah. Dumbass nickname. He and Uriah were supposed to meet me there at 9:00. There was this bartender named Marlene who worked there that Uri had a huge crush on, so he was there all the time fawning over her…."_

 _Tris feels completely numb as Zeke continues talking about his brother. She knows exactly who Uriah is, and looking at Zeke is like seeing a taller version of him. Uriah spent many nights at The Pit, flirting with Marlene and his great sense of humor and charisma made him one of the bar favorites. He was never sloppy, always nursing his drinks to make the most of the time he had there with Marlene. The pretty blonde always looked forward to him coming in, she was just as infatuated with Uriah as he was with her._

 _"For real, you knew them?" Zeke asks wide-eyed. It's then that Tris realizes she was speaking the last part of her thoughts out loud._

 _"I knew Marlene, she was a close friend of mine. She really liked Uriah a lot, she talked about him all the time." She replies honestly._

 _Zeke and Tris continue to talk, and drink, both burying the deep sorrow they feel at losing people they cared about. They spend over two hours together drinking, and in that time Tris learns that Zeke and Four had not only been close friends, but he had also worked with him at the gym. Tris had to be careful not to seem obvious, but she hung on every word Zeke spoke about Four._

 _"So what about this Four character, did he have himself a little bartender crush too or something?" Tris asks, feigning nonchalance._

 _Zeke laughs. "Nah, that dude got all of the ass without ever having to step foot in a bar. He had a different girl at the gym every day I swear. He was a Grade-A man whore." He continues laughing before downing his drink. He notices Tris' face and immediately apologizes. "Sorry that came across as being so crude. He was just a player. There was no reason for him to settle down, he said it all the time. I think he was out there living his best version of single life."_

 _Tris listens as Zeke continues rambling about Four, and the apparent single life he loved to flaunt. Throughout their conversation, they've managed to move closer together, and she glances down and sees his hand resting idly on her thigh. When the lights flicker on and off, signaling closing time, she downs her drink in two gulps and turns to Zeke._

 _"Want to get out of here?" She asks._

 _"Thought you'd never ask." He replies before throwing a wad of cash down for their tab, then the two stumble their way out of the bar._

 _End Flashback_

"I thought that was you. How are you?" Zeke asks.

"Fine, just fine." Tris replies. She scrubs away the tears that continue to leak from her eyes. She recognizes Zeke easily, he was the last one night stand she had before Peter finally kicked her out of his apartment a little over two months ago.

"You don't look very fine. I mean not like that. Open mouth, inset foot." Zeke replies.

"I didn't know you were a cop." She blurts.

"Yeah, have been for a few years now. You would have known had you ever given me your number." He shakes his head. "That's for another time though, are you ok?"

"No." She admits. "Bud's Place… I worked there… and people were there… "She begins to cry harder.

"Oh shit, yeah I was down there working it." He says. "I'm so sorry Kelly."

"It's Tris." She replies through tears. He gives her a confused look. "My real name."

Zeke nods his head. "I figured you didn't give me your real name that night. Do you need a ride home Tris? I can take you wherever you need to be." He offers. "I'm actually off duty right now if you want to get a drink, just friends, and no pressure."

"I just want to go home." She replies. She walks with Zeke to his patrol car, where he opens the passenger door and makes sure she is safely bucked in before closing it and heading to the driver's side of the car. He has her punch her address into his GPS and they head off towards Dauntless.

"Did anyone survive?" She asks.

"I'm not sure. By the time I had gotten there, they had taken some people to Erudite General, but to be honest I don't know if they were from Bud's, the other businesses, the streets or what." He replies.

"Can you take me there?" She asks eagerly. He nods and heads off towards the hospital. "Do you think there's a chance that anyone inside of the bar survived Zeke?"

He knows from what he observed with his own eyes it would be damn near impossible for anyone who was inside the business to actually survive, however it's not up to him to offer that answer since he's unsure where the employees were in relation to the explosion.

"I don't know Tris." He offers. "It was bad down there. Not like The Pit, but still bad."

"He never even knew how I feel about him." She says quietly. Zeke doesn't know who she's talking about, and he doesn't dare interrupt her to ask. "We hadn't even defined it. It was complicated." She replies. "This was our second time working together, and we definitely had some things to overcome from what happened at The Pit."

"Oh yeah, you lost Marlene there, I remember that." Zeke agrees.

"I lost Four there too." She replies quietly. "Or at least I thought I did. He and I were living together before it happened."

"Wait, what?" Zeke asks without masking his surprise. "He never once mentioned…"

"Never mentioned me, yeah I know. Just like he never took me out in public, or introduced me to any of his friends. I get it Zeke, I was definitely a secret, but not his best-kept one. That would have been the wife he never told me about, that he had walked out on after meeting me."

Zeke doesn't reply, letting the shock of everything Tris has told him sink in. He glances over at her and she's turned towards the window, but he can see the tears steadily trailing down the side of her face. He has so many questions for the woman beside him, but he understands she needs to just vent as she is once again dealing with loss.

"I tried to find you after that night we were together. I was heading to New York for training for a couple of weeks, and I had at least wanted to say goodbye. One night stands weren't really my thing, so I felt pretty bad when I woke up the next morning and you were gone." Zeke says.

"I'm sorry about that. I was a pretty big mess back then." Tris replies.

"It's ok. New York was good to me. Ironically enough there was another patrol cop in my class from Chicago that I had never met, an amazing woman named Shauna. We've been dating ever since. It took a trip to New York for me to meet someone who'd been working and living in the same city as me." He grins.

He sees Tris return his smile and realizes his distraction plan of talking more about himself may actually be working. They continue their conversation as the hospital comes into view, and Zeke watches Tris' nervous body language as she braces herself for the worst.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Thank you for all of the follows and reviews. Happy New Year to you all!**

Zeke and Tris scoured the hospital, checking with the Emergency Department and every floor for survivors of the explosion. They had found wounded bystanders from surrounding businesses, but no actual survivors from inside of Bud's Place. Tris had tried calling Tori several times, but each time her call was routed to her voicemail box, which was now reporting as being full. Bud, Drew and Eric's phones were all going straight to voicemail, and the outlook was growing bleaker that she would find any of her friends had survived the blast.

Even though she and Zeke met under terrible circumstances, and she made their encounter even more awkward by sneaking out of his apartment while he was asleep, he has proven himself to be a stand-up guy. Zeke has not left Tris at all, even though it was now after three in the morning, and he had even given her a ride back to Dauntless. They had talked more about their encounter a few months back and decided they would like to start over as friends. No matter what had happened, they did enjoy each other's company that evening at the bar, and that night they had finally found someone who they could talk to about the pain they had experienced with The Pit had exploded. Zeke felt a strong connection to Tris, not in any type of romantic way, but more in the way of friendship with a kindred spirit and now more than ever he felt that she needed someone on her side.

Zeke knows from his own training that Tris is likely regarded as a suspect in both incidents, having been an employee of both establishments, and his suspicions were confirmed once she began to open up about Four. He was not part of any official investigation, since that was left to the detectives, however he had heard the chatter regarding gang-related activity and Four's potential involvement. He has always been one to trust his own "gut feeling" and the feeling he was getting from Tris is that she is in the middle of a mess that was not one of her own doing.

When Zeke drops her off they exchange phone numbers, and a promise to keep in touch. For once, Tris feels like this may be a friendship she is in a state of mind to maintain.

She walks into her quiet and dark apartment and heads straight for the guest room that Eric had been staying in all this week. Ever since he had shown up with coffee and apologies, somehow it became normal for him to stay over after their shifts. The two of them had found it easier to be together, sharing an occasional beer or joint between themselves, talking long into the night. Ever since their trip to the Navy Pier, the two had become more comfortable and open with each other, and she had even been hopeful of the possibility of taking their friendship into a more serious direction.

"Why was I so stupid? I should have just told you how I feel." She murmurs.

She sits on the edge of the bed, grabbing the hoodie he had left strewn across it, and she shrugs it on over her own t-shirt. She pulls the collar up to her nose and inhales, smelling the masculine scent that was unique to Eric. She lays down on his pillow and lets the tears flow. Tris doesn't remember falling asleep, but she awakes with a start when she feels a hand on her back. She scrambles into a standing position and turns on the light.

"Eric…" She breathes out before grabbing him and pulling him into her arms. "Oh my God, you're ok." She says against his shoulder after he envelops her in his strong arms. "Oh my God…" she repeats.

"I'm ok." He soothes.

"How are you here?" She asks through tears.

"I left the bar shortly after you texted, I thought you needed a ride and I didn't know if anyone else was coming to get the two of you." He replies.

"I tried calling…"

"My phone was there. I left it by accident." He replies. "I went straight to the police station to find you and they fucking detained me and questioned me for hours. I had to finally ask for a lawyer before they would release me." He follows Tris into the apartment as he continues. "They thought I had something to do with this, hell they probably still do…"

Tris pulls his face down to hers and kisses him with everything she has. Eric easily reciprocates but eventually pulls away.

"Tris…" He begins.

"No. I almost lost you. I'm not drunk, I haven't drank anything since the last time you and I worked together. I'm not wanting to be distracted. I almost lost you. I thought you were dead. I thought you had died without ever knowing how much you mean to me." Tris cries and he wipes as many of her tears as he can keep up with. "Please tell me you actually feel something for me. I can't be the only one."

"Of course I do." He says before leaning towards her and capturing her lips with his own. "I'm right here." He whispers when he leans his forehead against hers.

"I thought you were dead." Tris whimpers. "I thought I lost you. Please don't leave me."

She remembers how she fell apart after losing Tobias, but nothing prepared her for the myriad of emotions she has experienced today thinking she had lost Eric. While their time together may look insignificant to someone tracking it on a calendar, they have spent every hour of every day together since Tris walked back into Eric's life over two months ago. They've grown closer in that time than some long-term couples have, and while the two of them haven't had an honest conversation about their growing feelings for each other, the trauma they went through today is bringing everything to the surface. Tris remains clutched to Eric's side as they sit down on the bed.

"I'm right here Tris. I'm not going anywhere." He wraps Tris in his arms and presses a kiss to the top of her head.

Tris looks up at him and he leans down to kiss her. When he pulls away, he begins speaking again.

"I wasn't really worried when I got the text from you about being late, but then thinking of the two of you stuck there and knowing from our conversations that you and Christina were still working through the past issues you had… I just didn't want you out there feeling uncomfortable." He sighs.

"I'm so glad you left. I know it's selfish to say that knowing what happened and that our friends are unaccounted for." Tris replies.

"I think we are entitled to be a little bit selfish right now." He murmurs into her hair before pressing his lips to her head.

"I don't know how we keep surviving these. It doesn't seem fair that we're here and they're…" She trails off.

"Bud and Drew might be ok." Eric offers. "They were planning on making a store run while I was gone."

"One of the officers took me to the hospital to look for survivors, there was no one there from Bud's" Tris replies.

"Tris, maybe they left. I don't know. I don't want to think about what happened there." Eric answers. "It's been two times now. Two fucking times that we've just happened to be away from our scheduled shifts and the whole place fucking blows up. I don't understand it."

"I don't either. I told the detectives that same thing. They suspect that we were involved in this, don't they?" Tris asks.

"I don't know." He answers honestly. "They grilled me for hours."

"Me too." She agrees.

The two quietly discuss and compare their experiences with the detectives earlier today, both realizing that they were asked similar questions. The detectives explained that the only current commonality between the two incidents are that the two of them were both actively employed by the targeted businesses. The difference is that in both cases Eric was supposed to be at work when the explosion took place, while a car malfunction had kept Tris away from the building. Even with the differences in circumstances, both Eric and Tris looked highly suspicious to the detectives.

"They're just doing their jobs. Honestly, if I were in their shoes I'd be looking hard at the two of us too. Like they said, we were both supposed to be there, but something pulled us away, which could mean that we are involved in it." Eric remarks. "All I can do is assure them that I'd never do anything like that. I hope you believe that too."

"Of course I do." Tris replies. She cups his face with her hands and leans in to kiss him again. "I trust you. I believe in you."

"Same. I know you wouldn't do any of this shit." He replies. "I've been trying to get ahold of Tori all day and she's not answering. What time did she leave you two?"

"Chris and I had been out in the parking lot for almost two hours maybe? It was long enough that we had some people try to jump start the car, unsuccessfully, then she had gotten ahold of Peter for him to come pick us up. It had been long enough since talking to Peter that she thought he had fallen back to sleep." She rambles. "What if she went to work?"

"I never saw her there." Eric replies quietly.

The two sit in quiet contemplation in the dark bedroom, Tris with her head on Eric's lap while he absentmindedly plays with her hair. He thinks she has fallen asleep and is startled when she begins speaking.

"Would you move in with me?" Tris asks. "I know it may be rushing things, and people might think we are crazy but I want you here with me."

"Yes." Eric answers without hesitation. The shrill ringing of her cell phone in their quiet bedroom startles them, especially at the odd hour, and she sits up and grabs it from her nightstand. She sees that it is Zeke calling and she quickly answers.

"Tris, I'm sorry for the late call, but I've gotten word that they've found a survivor over at Bud's Place. It's a male, that's all I know. Do you want a ride over to the hospital to see if it's Eric?" Zeke asks hurriedly. "I'm already on my way there, but I can turn around and get you."

"He's here with me. It's a long story, but he is ok. Do they know who the survivor is, or how he is?" Tris asks.

"No clue as yet." Zeke replies.

"We'll meet you there, I will text you when we get to the ER." Tris replies. Zeke affirms before hanging up.

"There's a survivor. Male. Not identified yet…" Tris begins.

"Let's go." Eric replies.

They bundle up and make the ride from Dauntless to Erudite in record time, as soon as they've parked Tris texts Zeke who agrees to meet them at the entryway to the Emergency Room. Eric takes Tris' hand in his as they walk to the entrance.

"Hey, I tried calling you back to warn you that there would be no visitors allowed." Zeke offers in greeting. He looks over at the broad man standing next to Tris and extends his hand. "I'm Zeke Pedrad, you must be Eric. Heard a lot about you today, and damn glad to be able to meet you."

"Thanks man." Eric replies as he shakes the lanky man's hand.

"This one was in his car, in the parking lot, buried under a good amount of debris. He's in surgery now. Male, red hair, light complexion…"

"Drew." Tris breathes out. "His girlfriend Molly has been looking for him all day…" Eric's grip on Tris' hand tightens. "Can we call her?"

"I will, yes." Zeke replies. Tris gives him the information from her cell phone and Zeke steps away to call her.

When Zeke returns to the couple he explains that while the explosion was serious, it was not as catastrophic as the one that took place at The Pit. He shares that there have been two bodies recovered from the debris, both from the kitchen area, and both assumed to be the missing Jessica and Darnell who were there prepping the kitchen. Zeke excuses himself and steps away to take another call.

"I can't believe this is happening again." Tris says with worry laced in her voice. Eric wraps his arms around her and rests his head against hers.

"I know." He says quietly.

"Eric Coulter, right?" Someone says, Tris and Eric turn around to find three uniformed police officers.

"Yeah." Eric replies.

"You're going to have to come with us." He replies. "You're under arrest…"

"Zeke!" Tris calls out, she sees him jogging over.

"Hey, what is going on here?" He asks the other officers, watching in surprise as they place handcuffs on Eric's wrists.

"We just got the call to pick him up, someone called it in that he was here with you." An officer replies.

"What am I being arrested for?" Eric asks angrily.

"Murder." An officer replies as they begin pulling him towards a patrol car, away from a horrified Tris and a confused Zeke.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hope you are all safe and well. I'm fortunate enough to have a job that allows me to work from home, so I've had a little time to write. Enjoy.**

Tris pulls up to the courthouse and parks the bike, removing her helmet before heading towards the older building. She's spent the last three days going through vigorous questioning from the detectives assigned to investigating both explosions, and miraculously she has avoided being arrested even though she feels the detectives desperately want to link her to these crimes.

She has not been able to talk to Eric or visit him, each time she has spoken to the authorities where he is currently incarcerated they have pointedly explained that he would be allowed no personal phone calls or visits until his bail hearing, which she learned is scheduled for today when his lawyer reached out to her on his behalf. Zeke has actually been doing his best to keep Tris updated on the case progress, as much as he can ethically without causing a conflict of interest in the case.

As she makes her way towards the courthouse, she is surprised to see a scrubs-clad Christina waiting by the door.

"What are you doing here?" Tris asks as she embraces her friend. "You must be exhausted."

"I couldn't let you go through this alone, I came straight from work." She replies as they break apart. "Peter's saving us seats inside the court room, come on."

They make it through the security checkpoints and Christina leads Tris to the appropriate courtroom where she is greeted by Peter. The three sit together in the relatively crowded courtroom.

"I didn't think you two would be here… I didn't know what to think…" Tris trails off, not knowing exactly how to put into words what is swirling in her head. Truthfully, in her conversations with both Peter and Christina she felt as if the two may have believed the circumstantial evidence against Eric, even though neither have done anything outwardly for her to think that.

"You care about him and believe in him, so we're here to support you and him." Peter answers. "Besides, Christina has already told the authorities that Eric was otherwise indisposed on the night of the explosion at The Pit." Peter adds, and Tris notices the tips of his ears turning red.

"Way to make this even more awkward babe." Christina sighs. "Let's just go ahead and address the elephant in the room, yes I slept with Eric, we were both drunk and it meant absolutely nothing. The only reason it keeps getting dredged up is because they seem to believe in the time he was away from The Pit he was the mastermind behind the gas filled explosion that happened there. Truth be told he could have easily been back there when it happened had I not been such a desperate hoe bag that night. Like seriously, I was plastered and I practically drug his ass to my car. He was legit just trying to get some damn ice."

"Ok babe…." Peter drawls.

"No, it's not ok. They arrested the man. I vouched for where he was that night. We were in the car, we had barely even started anything and we heard and saw the fucking explosion. It immediately sobered both of us up and we ran towards it just to be stopped by the heat and chaos coming from it. You guys don't understand, we saw that happen, we saw all of it." She shudders, but continues. "He was an absolute mess. Inconsolable. They cleared him, he's been working and keeping himself out of trouble ever since and suddenly they want to call him a murderer?"

"Chris, there is something I feel you have the right to know. I did ask Eric to move in with me, actually the same day he was arrested. Since you're letting me sublet your apartment I thought I should tell you." Tris explains nervously.

"Hey, you don't need to be anxious, he was practically living there anyway. I know you and I have had our issues, but I hope you believe me when I say I trust your judgment Tris. Eric and I may not have liked each other much in the past, and I know it's super awkward with the one encounter he and I had, but I truly have no issues with him. I don't believe for a second he's capable of killing anyone. Could he beat someone's ass… well yeah, look at him…. but murder… fuck that noise." Christina scoffs.

Tris is about to reply to Christina when she notices a man in business suit arrive and sit at the prosecution table, along with another man in a suit who walks over to the defense table. The two attorneys both look to be of Asian descent, with the prosecutor appearing to be younger than the defense attorney, perhaps by ten years or so. The entire courtroom quiets as law enforcement officers bring Eric in. He is currently handcuffed, but he is wearing the black slacks and grey sweater that Tris brought to his lawyer yesterday. He waits patiently to have his handcuffs removed before sitting down at the defense table next to his attorney. He immediately turns to scan the crowd for Tris, smiling briefly when he finds her next to Chris and Peter.

They all must stand when the judge enters the room, she is an attractive, older African-American woman named Johanna Reyes. Eric's attorney had filled Tris in on the Honorable Reyes at their brief meeting yesterday, and he seemed pleased to have drawn a fair judge.

Tris listens intently as the proceeding actually begins, and the prosecution begins arguing for their case to keep Eric locked behind bars until they can bring him to trial. There seems to be just a lot of arguing back and forth between the attorneys, mostly Eric's attorney who keeps pushing the point that his client was arrested without any evidence of him being tied to either crime.

"We already argued this point during the evidentiary hearing, we have an eyewitness who places your client directly at the scene prior to the explosion." The female prosecutor states.

"Mr. Coulter had every reason to be at the scene, he was the manager of the establishment and was on duty for an inventory." The defense attorney counters.

"That's enough." Judge Reyes admonishes. "We are not here to try the case, we are here to determine if Mr. Coulter should be held until trial."

"Your honor, the defendant is considered a flight risk. He has no permanent home address, we show he is listed as living in a boarding house in Amity." The prosecutor argues.

"We do have an updated residence for Mr. Coulter." The defense attorney shuffles through his paperwork, hands some forms to the bailiff who passes them to the judge. She peers over her reading glasses.

"When was this residence established Mr. Coulter?" She asks, peering down at Eric.

"The day I was arrested your honor." He replies.

"Who else resides in the residence?" She counters.

"My girlfriend, Tris Prior." He replies.

"I see. Will there be any conflicts or issues with your girlfriend due to your current state of affairs?" She asks.

"No ma'am. She is here today to support me." He replies.

There are some more arguments between the two sides, and Tris hangs on to every word, hoping that the judge will set Eric's bail at something she could manage. She's frustrated and angry at the entire situation, not understanding how on earth any law enforcement officer or the state attorneys could have built any case against Eric.

"Mr. Coulter has no prior record, no arrests, not even a traffic violation. He has established a relationship and a home. It is my belief that he is not a flight risk – the only lapse in employment has been due to the tragedies that happened at both of his previous jobs. I have no reason to keep this man incarcerated until trial. I hereby order him released to his home until the conclusion of his trial. We will meet here again in two weeks to begin jury selection. Mr. Coulter, you are not to leave the state, and any law infraction will violate this release. Do you understand?" Judge Reyes asks.

"Yes your honor, thank you." He replies.

"Your honor, I object…" The prosecutor stands.

"There is nothing to object, Mr. Wu, my decision has been made." The judge admonishes. "You are free to go Mr. Coulter. Mr. Kang…" She says as she gestures towards the defense attorney."… and Mr. Wu," she says, gesturing towards the prosecutor, "I'd like to meet with you both in my chambers. Mr. Coulter, my bailiff will be out with your personal belongings shortly." With that she stands, and everyone in the room remains standing as she leaves the bench.

"Wu… isn't that Tori's last name?" Christina whispers from her spot next to Tris.

"It is." Tris whispers back. She doesn't think much more of it as she watches Eric and his attorney have a quick conversation before the older man disappears to meet with the judge. Tris walks as quickly as possible to Eric, who embraces her.

"I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this." He murmurs into her hair.

"Don't you dare apologize, you're the one who is dealing with so much." Tris replies. He pecks her lips before Peter and Christina join them.

"Thank you both for supporting her." He says sincerely.

"We're here for you too. This whole thing is bullshit…" Christina begins.

"Babe… language… there are other people here." Peter says with a smile.

"Fuck them." Christina replies with an eye roll.

"We are going to get home, we are both exhausted after coming here straight from work. I'm glad everything worked out." Peter offers his hand to Eric, who masks his surprise and shakes it in return. Christina gives Tris a quick hug before walking out of the courtroom with Peter.

"Are you ok? What happens now?" Tris asks while nervously fussing over him. "You look so tired."

"I'm ok, glad to be able to go home. I hope that offer still stands…"

"Of course it does. Eric, I don't believe you had anything to do with any of this." Tris replies.

"I don't know what happens from here. Apparently they have this mysterious eye witness that puts me at the scene. Of course I was there, I work there. I'm frustrated because there was no reason to arrest me or hold me in jail for three days. I've cooperated with everything they've asked. My lawyer thinks this whole thing is a witch hunt. I just don't get it Tris. How could someone think I would want to hurt people? I'm not that kind of guy. If I have an issue with someone I talk to them. Sure I've gotten into a couple of drunken fights back in the day, but that's not who I am anymore. That explosion at The Pit changed me."

As promised, the bailiff brings Eric a small bag with his personal belongings and after checking out Eric follows Tris to the bike. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"You drove the bike?" He asks.

"You seem surprised." She shrugs as she hands him his helmet.

"I am. I didn't think you knew how." He answers.

"There's a lot about me you don't know." She replies off-handedly. She hands him the keys and smiles. "Now drive me home."

He doesn't answer, instead he just grins at her before putting his helmet on. His thoughts are heavy, but the feeling he gets when she wraps herself around him takes the pain away, even if it's just for a moment.


End file.
